Hillary: The Twenty-first Century Teflon Candidate

This is apparently now what appears in the AP style manual  (the slayer of the Oxford Comma) in the section defining "innocence" or "Who? Me? What'd I do?"

Also apparent is the Media's latest shift in their strategies to effect Clinton-spin. From Hot Air: 

So even if Hillary Clinton never “intended” for sensitive information to be exposed, keeping it outside of the normal storage and safeguards of the government is more than sufficient for a case to be prosecuted. But the fundamental premise of saying there was no malicious intent is still dishonest in and of itself. Whether she cared for it or not, Secretary Clinton was aware that there was a State Department email system in place and available for her use. When your employer provides such a communication system for the employees it requires an active decision on the part of the employee to go out and hire people to set up a completely independent server in their home and keep it’s contents away from the prying eyes of the public. If she had restricted her use of that server to nothing but personal correspondence with friends and family it would still have raised some eyebrows but I believe she’d get a pass on the entire malicious intent question, but that’s not even remotely what happened. She was intentionally doing public business on her private server and it doesn’t require a psychic to figure out why. She didn’t want the public or the press to know about it or have any traceable records.

Still, as I referenced above, that’s not the question at hand. The lack of intent line is just a red herring. Prosecution under 18 USC 793 only requires that the information wind up being outside of its proper place of custody. You can argue the intent angle all the live long day but it doesn’t change the fact that the law clearly appears to have been broken. Whether the Justice Department (under the thumb of one of Clinton’s biggest campaign surrogates) decides to do anything about it is another question.

Bless her heart. She didn't mean to cause no trubbles.

I'm fairly certain that General Petraeus was of the same mind. Not that that did any good, or anything, for his defense. He was convicted in a Federal Court, and in the court of public opinion, barely escaping having to appear before a Court Martial, losing a star in the process.

I'm about as fed up as I can get with "standards" vs. "Clinton standards."  But then, I've lived in Arkansas during most of the Clinton era so I'm ahead of the game in recognizing Clinton adoration-blinders when I see them.

It's time for the rest of the country to WAKE THE EFF UP and smell the BS.

Yeah. Fat chance.

(Sorry for the language. Hillary brings out the worst in me.)

Happy Derby Day and Mother's Day Eve.

Wealth Re-Distribution, 2.0

Tomorrow is Primary Election Day here in the Natural State, and you know what that means -- lots of robo-calls and bad political ads.

One ad has been running on the local talk radio station featuring Hillary. In it, she affects this nasal, whiny accent and tells supporters how "she loves to brag on Arkansas" because our Legislature was foolhardy clever enough to pass a bi-partisan "Public Option" for health insurance that moves thousands who previously didn't qualify for Medicaid, and whose income was too high to give them premium subsidies, onto the Medicaid rolls and they will now be insured.

(Arkansas is among the states that declined to set up a "State Exchange," opting instead for the "Private Option" which accepts federal funds to allocate to Medicaid and it subsidizes premiums charged by private insurers. So, potay-toh/potah-toh. The Governor purportedly wanted the "Arkansas Works Program"  [Private Option] to focus on encouraging citizens to go to work and enjoy employer-provided insurance rather than relying on government to insure them. I'm not so sure that's working out.)

What the Medicaid expansion advocates don't tell us is that, under Obamacare, once a body has accepted any Medicaid benefits, he's deemed to be a Medicaid participant for life. For-ever!

One might not think that's a problem when he's a twenty-something and hasn't acquired diddly-squat to pass on to his heirs, but it's a different story when he moves on to the next plane of existence and his estate is being probated.

Guess who gets his share first, before any heir or legatee?

How'd you guess?!  Of, course --  it's Uncle Sam!!

Can you say "the ultimate surreptitious re-distribution of wealth?" Of course you can! It's called "asset forfeiture," and it's been around for awhile, but Obamacare gave it a shot of steroids.

A wonderful article from 2013 that Pepper found in Science Decoded boils the issue down to one articulate sentence:

Dr. Jane Orient, the Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, put the risk/reward tradeoff succinctly. “People will think this is wonderful, this is free insurance. They don’t realize it’s really a loan, and is secured by any property they have.”

What an awful thing for your government to do to you. Restoring the Estate Tax was bad enough, but putting these two together is nothing short of confiscatory policy that slaps around the Fourth Amendment.

Don't let Uncle Sam tell you it's raining on you.

A Smidgen of This, a Smidgen of That, and a Heapin' Helping of BS

So.  It seems that the Congressional Ways and Means Committee released a few choice internal IRS emails today from Lois Lerner's government account. It would be an extreme understatement to suggest that the content indicates a "dislike" of Conservatives on Ms. Lerner's part. The HuffPo reports:

In one email, Lerner called members of the GOP crazies. In the other, she called them "assholes." The committee redacted the wording to "_holes" in the material it released publicly but a committee spokeswoman confirmed to the AP that the email said "assholes."

Congress and the Justice Department are investigating whether the IRS improperly scrutinized applications for tax-exempt status from conservative groups.

(See also The Daily Caller and The Daily Beast.)

Now, wait a minute. I thought Justice has declined to wade into this scandal. Yep. Justice is dragging its feet, arms, torso, and skull. House Judiciary Committee Chair noted (emphasis mine):

“Earlier this year, unnamed Justice Department officials leaked information to the Wall Street Journal suggesting that the department does not plan to file criminal charges over the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups,” he added. “On Super Bowl Sunday, President Obama stated that there was ‘not even a smidgen of corruption’ in connection with the IRS’s admitted targeting of conservative groups based upon their beliefs.”

I think there's more than a smidgen, a pinch, or a dollop of corruption and malfeasance on the Hill.  There are at least two participants in the communication released today, and it's unlikely that they're the only two who adhere to the opinion so eloquently expressed therein. There's clearly a whole culture of corruption and vengeance in the IRS, and they've already wielded the power of the Revenoors as a bludgeon. Does anyone really think, with a straight face, that the White House doesn't have at least nine fingers in this pie?

But, is it possible that these magic emails (and here I thought all Lerner's emails were lost, or corrupted, or stolen by aliens) will get Justice off the pot and force the appointment of a Special Prosecutor for the IRS scandal?

Unlikely.

Perhaps the media and the White House should be pounding on impeachment for Holder instead of Young President Impotent.

Maybe just a smidgen.

Louisiana Politics Rears its Interesting Head

You may recall that, back on February 12, I reported on the guilty verdicts rendered in the corruption prosecution of former New Orleans mayor, C. Ray Nagin. Within that post was a little tidbit about Nagin's fellow corruption ex-con, the frequent former Governor of Louisiana and recent occupant of a federal prison "camp," 86-year old EdwinWashington Edwards.

Edwards is what some might describe as a "colorful" figure.  Others might describe him as an eccentric fellow.  Or a corrupt scoundrel.  The term, "demagogue," also has a certain accurate ring to it.  He is definitely a raconteur.

Regardless of any epithet used to characterize The Governor, one thing is certain: the man is a championship quality politician.

In addition to occupying the Governor's Mansion for an aggregate of sixteen years, Edwards also served in the Louisiana state Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. During those early years, he grew to be a master of creating political alliances and deals, so much so that in 1983 he was famously known to have bragged that he couldn't lose an election in Louisiana unless he was "caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."  One Louisiana cartoonist came up with the following, but it was never published, making what would today be known as "viral" rounds in the state via FAX machine instead:

Weakened by a corruption scandal in 1985 (for which he was eventually acquitted, after at least one mistrial), Edwards eventually went down to defeat in 1987, withdrawing from the race when Buddy Roemer placed first in the Open Primary, and handing over the keys to the Governor's Mansion well before Roemer was to be sworn in.  But was he through?  Noooooo. Not our Edwin. He quietly girded his loins and prepared for a re-match in 1991. That race proved to be one of those you-can't-make-this-stuff-up kind of scenarios.

Governor Roemer had been wiped out politically by the mess that Edwards left him, so after the smoke cleared, the 1991 Open Primary saw first place occupied by good ol' Edwin, and second place, putting him into the run-off instead of third-place Roemer, was won by David Duke.  You know -- the David Duke who was at the time a KKK elite and radical neo-Nazi.  That was an "interesting" election, with at least one bumper sticker admonishing voters to "Vote for the Crook. It's Important,"  and the good people of Louisiana did just that -- they voted the Crook back in instead of the ultra-right-wing kook.

Edwards is also a bit of a ladies man.  He is currently in his second May/December marriage, having twice divorced -- his first marriage (to Elaine) ended after 40 years (and after having appointed her to fill an unfinished term in the U.S. Senate some 17 years earlier);  his first May/December union (to Candy) ended while he was imprisoned, because "she had suffered enough."

Edward and Candy Edwards

The current Mrs. Edwards is 35-year old Trina, also the mother of his fifth child, born in August of 2013.

The happy blended Edwards family

They met after she began corresponding with and visiting him in prison, and married after his parole in 2011. In addition to their joint venture of creating a new human being (which is just kinda creepy to think about), the Edwardses also recently partnered on an A&E television reality show, "The Governor's Wife."  The program also starred two of Edwards's 60-something daughters and Trina's sons, pictured above.  To say the show was woefully atrocious is wholly inadequate to describe just how very bad it was. Mercifully, it didn't last long.

So, why am I all about The Governor today?

You won't believe this.

Well, maybe you will.  It's happening in Louisiana, after all.

Earlier this week, on Monday, the unsinkable Edwin Edwards announced his 2014 run for the 6th Congressional District seat.  The Advocate, one of Louisiana's statewide newspapers, laid out in print what many people felt:

Many agree that former Gov. Edwin Edwards will turn a sleepy race for Louisiana’s congressional 6th District seat into something more interesting, but it’s not very likely he’ll win.

I mean, really.  A  felonious, washed-up politician, reality-show reject running for national office?  Right.

Wait. What?

Today, a local polling organization announced that Edwards is not only leading the field, he is leading by 23% over his nearest rival for the Primary.  The Daily Kos leapt into the "LA-6 just went from safe -Republican to HUGE PROBLEM for GOP" spin machine, because Edwards is, after all, a Democrat.

This race should get fully cranked up about the time pre-season  football hits.  I'm not sure which will be the more entertaining spectator sport.

Valentine's Day With a Twist

Well, here's a distasteful little twist on Valentine's Day/Presidents' Day:

This billboard is located on I-30 in Little Rock.  It advertises AshleyMadison.com, a "dating service" for married folks whose copyrighted motto is "Life is Short. Have an Affair."  For real.

In a recent press release, the founder of the site explained the connection among the former presidents and her "service" --

"Throughout history powerful men, particularly those in politics, have sought out the romantic company of women who weren't their wives. We chose to honor these three men as each had well-documented affairs during their time in office." In addition to their wandering eyes, Noel Biderman says the men have another major thing in common. "Despite their dalliances, they were still considered heroes by the American people, who never stopped viewing them as great leaders."

The website includes a link to "Infidelity News" and an online Adult Toy Store "by popular demand." And a freakin' blog!

"Great leaders" my foot.  Great politicians, yes, but I'm not so sure about the leader thing, and Bill Clinton is certainly not a hero by any stretch of the imagination.  Maybe JFK, but he went off and got all dead and stuff, so we never saw his full evolution.  I'm not even going to acknowledge that Progressive FDR.

If this is a legitimate business and not some colossal, cosmic joke, then as a society, We. Are. Doomed.

Or, perhaps you may call me "Pollyanna."

It is kind of a clever ad.

Happy Valentine's Day.

From Today's Inbox -- Cutting the Deficit

Pepper forwarded this to me today.  It really puts things in perspective:

object: I'm cutting back and you may want to also!

I'm cutting back and you may want to also....

    I'm going to bite the bullet, too!!!!

President Obama ordered the cabinet to cut $100,000,000.00 ($100
million) from the $3,500,000,000,000.00 ($3.5 trillion) federal
budget.

I'm so impressed by this sacrifice that I have decided to do the same

thing with my personal budget. I spend about $2,000 a month on
groceries, household expenses, medicine, utilities, etc., but it's
time to get out the budget cutting axe, go through my expenses, and
cut back.

I'm going to cut my spending at exactly the same ratio (1/35,000) of
my total budget. After doing the math, it looks like instead of
spending $2,000 a month, I'm going to have to cut that number by six
cents. Yes, I'm going to have to get by with $1999.94, but that's what
sacrifice is all about.

I'll just have to do without some things, that are, frankly, luxuries
- six cents worth.

Did this President actually think no one would do the math? Please
send this to everyone on your list so people understand how idiotic a
$100 million cut is in a $3.5 trillion budget - ludicrous!!!!!!!

"There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation...

    One is by sword...

    The other is by debt."

    John Adams 1826



*sigh*

"Dollar Bill" Finally to be Issued a Prison Jumpsuit!

So.  Seven years after his wrongdoing came to light, and 2 1/2 years after his conviction, my former Congressman, William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson, has finally been ordered to report to prison by May 4th.  You can refresh your memory about his saga here.

He got 13 years.  The judge will send him to a minimum security federal facility and Jefferson will be required to serve at least 85% of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.  That means he'll be in the hoosegow for more than 11 years.  He's 65 now, so it's likely he won't be feeling too spry when he gets sprung.

Sounds like watching ol' Bill don the orange jumpsuit should be a pretty strong deterrent to others in Congress who might be tempted to engage in similar hijinks.  But, then again, power corrupts.

We have plenty of evidence of that axiom in DC today, now, don't we?

Justice Kagan Sullies the Supreme Court Bench. Badly.

Article III, sec. 1, of the U.S. Constitution establishes the federal judiciary.  The requirements aren't much -- one needn't even be a lawyer to qualify as a federal judge.  There are only two simple requirements:

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

So, to become and remain a federal judge (or Justice) for life, one need only (1) behave him/herself and (2) get paid.

In my opinion, if she continues to refuse to recuse herself from the Obamacare case, Justice Elena Kagan will meet only one of those two simple requisites for service in the federal judiciary.

In her role as Solicitor General, Kagan became so inextricably intertwined in efforts to pass the Act that she cannot possibly be able to remain impartial in hearing arguments against, and deciding on, its constitutionality. Because such an appearance of impropriety falls well shy short of "Good Behavior," Justice Kagan should be Impeached, convicted by the Senate, and removed from the bench.

Yes.  I contend that such egregious behavior amounts to nothing less than "high crimes and misdemeanors."  The woman clearly perjured herself during her confirmation hearings by denying any participation in the Obamacare process, and her threatened participation in the Obamacare case is an oozing blemish on the face of the Supreme Court. 

Where's the Clearasil?!?!

Maxine's Observations About Life in these United States

It seems that Maxine Waters is awake.  I speculate that she's awake because, if she's awake, she's talking.  And, as you can see, she's indeed talking.



Well, perhaps "blathering" is a more accurate description of what she's doing.  "That's life."  Seriously?!?!

With the investigation into her startling lack of ethics ongoing, you'd think she'd lay low instead of stepping into the OWS sewer.  I wonder when the outside counsel hired by the House Ethics Committee back in July will issue an opinion?  Seeing Maxine get slapped around a little like Charlie Rangel did (or, a lot more than Charlie Rangel did) would make something nice to be thankful for!

(H/t to Chicks on the Right)

A Day When Guilt is a Good Thing

This has been a very successful day in the criminal conviction of soulless, waste-of-oxygen-type folk.

#1 -- in Little Rock, convert to Islam, Abdulhakim Muhammad, accused of murdering Army PVT William "Andy" Long and shooting PVT Quinton Ezeagwula outside an Army Recruiting Office in 2009, copped a plea on the eve of trial.  Muhammad will serve life in prison, without parole, on the capital murder count, and life on 12 remaining counts, to run consecutively.  For good measure, the judge also tacked on another 180 years on firearm enhancement counts, also to run consecutively. I doubt he'll be drawing another breath of open air, and that is fine with me.

In the sentencing phase, PVT Long's father testified, "After 2 years, 1 month and 25 days, I can tell you from my experience and expertise at being a father of a murdered son, there is no closure[.]  . . . It is a myth." 

Prosecutor Larry Jegley later told reporters, "Ultimately any plea resolution has to be OK with the victim and the victim's family, [t]he Long family is merciful beyond description. And they showed mercy to Muhammad. Muhammad showed no mercy to the victims whatsoever."

It's a shame that Muhammad was tried on state charges instead of federal, meaning that he'll serve his sentence in an Arkansas prison.  It would've been pleasant to contemplate him serving time in a nice Army-friendly federal pen.  Like Leavenworth, maybe.

#2 -- this afternoon in New Orleans, a unanimous jury found former state legislator and City Council member, Renee Gill-Pratt guilty of Conspiracy to divert public funds and to loot charities for personal gain.  The jury is currently deliberating about the amount of restitution Gill-Pratt will be ordered to pay.  Prosecutors are asking for the tidy little sum of $1.4 mil. Hopefully, there will also be an orange jumpsuit added to Ms. Gill-Pratt's wardrobe.  I'd say she could pull off orange, wouldn't you?

#3 -- with the third thing being the charm -- Bring On Maxine Waters!

Honestly, does she ever shut up?!?!  Anyway -- let's keep this roll going!

A Jefferson Family Update: Movin' on Out

There has been a lot of activity going on in New Orleans' once powerful Jefferson clan.

You might recall that William Jefferson is my former congressman who was convicted of bribery after federal investigators found, among other things, $90K in cold hard cash in his freezer.  He has remained free, pending appeal, since being sentenced to 13 years in the federal pen in November 2009.  Yes, it's been that long.  Oral arguments were re-scheduled for May of this year, but they have since been postponed yet again due to his attorney's battle with lymphoma.  No date has been set while Dollar Bill cools his heels out in the fresh air.

Brother Mose Jefferson, who was also convicted in 2009 on several counts of bribery and obstruction of justice, had been serving his 10-year sentence when he succumbed to cancer in May of this year. His passing got him excused from another unrelated trial for criminal fraud, not yet set, that involved a scheme to divert monies intended for charitable endeavors, cooked up by Mose and gal-pal, former City Council member and state legislator, Renee Gill-Pratt.  Her first trial in February of this year resulted in a hung jury, and re-trial begins this coming Monday.

Testifying in that re-trial against Gill-Pratt will be sister Betty Jefferson and her daughter Wanda Coleman, who pleaded guilty in the scam and took a deal.  Betty and Wanda are scheduled to be sentenced on August 31st -- happy birthday to me!

And now, it looks like there might be even a little more action on the Betty front.  You might recall that Betty Jefferson had served as the New Orleans Fourth District Assessor for a number of years, and that misappropriation of Parish funds made up the bulk of the charges against her in the bogus charity scheme with Mose, Gill-Pratt, and daughter Wanda. 

Get ready for this -- it gets even more convoluted.

It was revealed yesterday that an audit of the last five years of Betty's tenure as Assessor revealed up to $114,000 additional checks in possibly misappropriated funds.  It might be simply a matter of sloppy record-keeping, but when you consider that several of the checks drawn on the Assessor's work fund were made payable to an Assessor's office employee whose endorsement was then forged by a Jefferson family member, who subsequently kept the money, something smells stinky in the Crescent City. 

Among those invited to respond to the audit, but all of whom declined, were the office employee, Betty, Wanda, and Wanda's daughter Tawanda Coleman.  So now we've added another generation to the family business in public corruption. 

It seems to me that the Betty clan might be looking at state charges and orange jumpsuits in the near future.

I warned you previously about Bill's daughters -- the highly educated ones -- but his great-nieces and nephews didn't blip on my radar.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: this family is nothing more than a band of amoral brigands aiming to "spread the wealth" from the public and the poor by channeling it to themselves.

I'd better get the ol' radar tuned up.

Venezuela Kills Off Its Next-to-Last Functioning Brain Cell

Today I have offered up a genuine prayer of thanksgiving.  I am truly thankful that I do not live in Venezuela.

What are they thinking?!?!  Who among the Venezuelan citizenry cannot appreciate that by giving him another decree power the Congress has set Chavez up as a despot -- a dictator with royalty envy -- before the opposition gains a foothold in January.  And who in his right mind could possibly want to achieve such a thing?!?! 

Next they'll change his title to Emperor.  We'll just have to call him Napoleon "Dynamite" Chavez.

Seriously.  He has declared the banking industry to be a "public service," has expropriated private property without compensation, and is now turning his eye toward regulation of the internet.  AP reports:

The law to grant Chavez decree powers, the fourth such legislation of his nearly 12-year presidenccy [sic], also will allow him to unilaterally enact measures involving telecommunications, the banking system, information technology, the military, rural and urban land use, and the country's "socio-economic system."




Among the planned decrees already announced, Chavez intends to increase the value-added tax, now 12 percent, to raise funds for coping with the disaster caused by weeks of heavy rains. The government is erecting tents to house thousands left homeless and is accelerating public housing construction.

But, NappyDyn doesn't view this latest power grab as setting himself up as a Cuban-style dictator.  He just wants benevolent control of Venezuela's entire "socio-economic system."  More details at Fausta's Blog.

I guess the denizens of the Star Wars saga didn't see it that way at first, either.

We'd better watch our backs until 2012.  I can think of someone else who might like to add a laurel wreath headpiece to his Nobel medal via appropriation of the banking industry, the energy industry, the healthcare system, the . . . .

Oops.

Santa Brought Me an Early Present!

The full Senate voted unanimously this morning to convict Federal District Judge Thomas Porteous on all Articles of Impeachment!  He was immediately removed from the bench and will be denied his $174, 000 per year pension.

You may recall that his primary defense centered around the notion that most of the things he and his cronies were accused of doing occurred while he was sitting on the state bench, so the feds shouldn't have any problems with them.  The very brazen idea!!

As a resident of southeast Louisiana, I have only this to say:  Merry early Christmas to me!

Since they actually voted to boot out one of their own, maybe they're not all crooked in D.C..  

What am I saying?!?  They almost sucked me in!  (See: Charles Rangel.)