Shocker: John Edwards Accepts No Blame!

     I suppose one shouldn't be surprised that the key message emanating from the John Edwards defense team is that former aide Andrew Young is to blame for any violations of the law that may have taken place in the Rielle Hunter affair and baby fiasco during and after the aborted 2008 Edwards presidential campaign.  The lawyers want us to know that while their tarnished ex-golden boy client may be a poor excuse for a human being, we should apparently conclude he's no lawbreaker.
     It remains disappointing, to say the least, that John Edwards will never take responsibility for his actions.  Granted, Andrew Young is no saint, but it appears as though John and Rielle will never acknowledge, much less apologize for, the ongoing humiliation and embarrassment they inflicted on Elizabeth until her final breath.  Their actions were nothing short of despicable, but now the question becomes, were they legal?
     Fred Baron served as the Edwards campaign finance chairman, and he maintained shortly before his death in late October, 2008 that he had provided financial assistance to Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young without Edwards' knowledge or direction.  It's highly questionable the same can be said regarding  money given by then 97 year old Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, with whom Edwards met privately on several occasions.  Beginning in May of 2007, Mellon provided more than $725,000 to John Edwards over the course of an eight month period.  Check notes obscurely referred to "chairs", "bookcases", and an"antique Charleston table".  The FBI interviewed Mellon on two occasions in 2010 as they believed these funds were used to secretly support Hunter during her preganancy and subsequently following the birth or her illicit child with Edwards.  Mellon's son and three grandsons appeared before a grand jury in December of 2010, and Edwards was indicted in June of 2011 for using campaign funds to help cover-up an affair and pregnancy during the 2008 presidential campaign.  One week prior to this indictment Edwards met privately with Mellon.  As she is now considered to be a potential witness, the judge has forbidden Edwards from meeting her again.
     Taking into account these unusual financial ties, it's hard to imagine John Edwards didn't completely control the money flow.  Likewise, it's impossible to believe that someone as reportedly unstable and media hungry as Rielle would allow herself to be silenced and willingly go along with a cover up of this nature unless she believed her "Johnny" was at the helm.
     I'm sure that those of us who once believed in John Edwards and what he professed to stand for now believe to the depth of our souls that he not only knew about but actually conceived of this entire misappropriation of campaign funds... anything to hide the truth. 

Andrew Breitbart Died of Heart Failure?

I don't buy it, not for a minute.  I think it's clear that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is once again up to her old tricks.  Hillary recognized the threat that a journalist as intrepid and insightful as Andrew Breitbart would likely pose to her 2016 presidential bid.  Quite simply, he had to be silenced.
Remember how effectively Hillary eliminated Vince Foster?  Ron Brown?  There was minimal media
attention paid, and certainly no legal ramifications.  Thank God we had conservative voices of reason pointing us to these truths!
Next on Hillary's list was Jim McDougal.  This remains one of the great mysteries of our time--how exactly did the (then) First Lady slip inside Mr. McDougal's Texas prison cell (in solitary confinement no less) and force him to ingest the diuretics that she knew full well would cause a massive heart attack just days before McDougal was scheduled to testify before Kenneth Starr's Whitewater Inquisition, er, Grand Jury?
Yet this was nothing compared to Hillary's post-White House days when as New York's junior Senator she arranged with the 9/11 hijackers to crash the flight carrying one Barbara Olson into the Pentagon.  Ms. Olson, of course, had written a highly critical book, "Hell to Pay:  The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton".  It's obvious the entire operation had Hillary's fingerprints all over it.
Now this.  Although Mr. Breitbart hadn't yet singled out Hillary for one of his highly ethical and well-researched pieces, she could see the writing on the wall.
The question needs to be asked:  where was Hillary on the night of March 1, 2012?  America wants to know...

Mitt & Ann Romney's Dog Days Continue

It's clear the Romney campaign is petrified by the ongoing fallout they've been experiencing as a result of Mitt and Ann's inexcusable mistreatment/abuse of Seamus the Irish Setter.
The fact that they've tried to divert attention away from themselves and onto the President by citing a passage from his 2004 autobiography "Dreams of My Father" (in which he described assorted items he was fed as a young child in Indonesia) smacks of nothing but desperation.
They can't honestly believe the American people won't recognize the difference between the unfortunate sampling of snake, dog, and grasshopper ("meat") given to a six or seven year old child in a foreign land and the willful mistreatment of an allegedly "beloved" family pet by two adults who certainly ought to know better.  Mitt and Ann stand before us naked:  revealed as disingenuous and out of touch.
Rather than deny, obfuscate, or engage in re-writing history ("Seamus loved riding up there; he only had that diarrhea because he'd eaten some bad turkey"), they should both simply apologize.  It's clearly too late for Seamus, but I would imagine the animal welfare/rights community--as well as all of us who've cherished sprecial animal companions in our lives--would appreciate it.
And, if the Romneys still feel the need to crate some form of life on the top of one of their vehicles, I would ask them to consider Ted Nugent... provided the Secret Service is done with him.

Occupy America

     Occupy Wall Street protesters are unquestionably giving voice to millions of Americans who feel betrayed or left behind by an economic system designed and maintained to benefit the 1% (or fewer!) living at the "top of the heap".
     Occupy Wall Street has sparked a national dialogue/debate about priorities and values that terrifies the privileged few by opening up a floodgate of pent-up frustrations.  The movement is criticized for not having forged a snappy set of demands or specific goals--something that the 24/7 news media can categorize, analyze, and then editorialize into insignificance.  Perhaps the real strength of Occupy Wall Street can be found in this initial ambiguity.  Maybe there's simply so much to be angry about that it's proving to be a little overwhelming trying to narrow the list.
     Think about it for a moment... The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that were launched by George W. Bush, which President Obama continues to wage, have now sucked roughly 1.3 trillion dollars out of our treasury and have left us in economic chaos.  The cost in terms of human casualties is immeasureable.
     The banking industry, which received roughly $650 billion dollars in taxpayer-funded bail-out money (through the Troubled Asset Relief Program signed into law by George W. Bush in October of 2008) foreclosed on over one million homes in 2010.  In 2011, after dealing with some bothersome paperwork irregularities, the banks are on track to repossess another 800,000 homes.  Unfortunately, there's been no one able, or willing, to bail out the average American.
     Meanwhile, officials in the Defense Department are expected to require another $1 billion above the initial estimate of $6 billion dollars to figure out where all the money allocated to the Pentagon has actually gone over the past ten years or so!  Yet the budget for the Defense Department in fiscal year 2010 increased, once again, to $680 billion dollars.
     While the unemployment rate continues to hover above a national average of 9%, CEO bonus payouts have made a significant comeback:  William Johnson of H.J. Heinz received $8,589,063 million, Lawrence Ellison of Oracle took home $6,453,254, John Chambers of Cisco received $4,600,000, Mark Parker of Nike received $4,441,875, and the inimitable, scandal-plagued Rupert Murdoch of News Corp pocketed $4,368,800.  A more complete list, easily found online, makes for fascinating reading.
     To put this all in a context folks like Glenn Beck, Paul Ryan, and Eric Cantor might possibly understand:  there's an awful lot of "ammunition" feeding the sense of anger and frustration out there.  This might mean trouble for them... one can sense the vested interest behind the fear in Rep. Ryan and Rep. Cantor's criticisms of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  The Doctor Kevorkian of Medicare (Ryan) has an estimated net worth of $3 million, while Cantor's is approaching $5 million.  That's a lot of wealth to protect.  Beck, not unexpectedly, went to his crazy place and stated the protesters will "kill everybody" in order to foment revolution.  Incidentally, his net worth is estimated at over $85 million.
     It's unrealistic to expect politicians from either party to speak for, or even understand, the 99%.  Nancy Pelosi's net worth is estimated at $35 million, John Boehner's at $3-5 million, and Mitch McConnell's is anywhere from $17-20 million.  These pale by comparison with Rep. Michael McCall of Texas and Rep. Darrell Issa of California; $294 million and $220 million respectively.  Given their financial stake it's doubtful that comprehensive and equitable proposals or solutions will come from CEOs or this current "mob" (thanks, Eric) of politicians.
     We may see aspects of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations that make us feel uncomfortable, or that we disagree with, but I'd be willing to bet we'll discover many more that resonate with us--and perhaps even inspire us.  We all need to acknowledge the basic message:  it's time to speak up and change the direction of our nation.  We are the 99%, and it's time to Occupy America.
    
 

Palestinian Statehood Now

In 1993's Oslo Accords, Israel acknowledged the PLO negotiating team as "representing the Palestinian people".  In return, the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist in peace, and accepted UN Security Council Resolutions 242 (http://www.mideastweb.org/242.htm) and 338 (http://www.mideastweb.org/338.htm).

Two years later a right-wing Israeli extremist gunned down Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin following a peace rally in Tel Aviv.  Rabin was widely viewed as the the one Israeli politician who seemed capable of bringing about a genuine peace.  Then in 1996, as Israel prepared for elections that would pit Labour's Shimon Peres against Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas embarked on a deadly terror spree throughout the country.  Netanyahu subsequently came to power, and Oslo effectively ended as he increased the pace of illegal  settlements on the West Bank.  In 1996, the settlement population totaled 140,00.  By June of 2009, the estimated total had grown to some 300,000.  Since 1967, Israel has built 120 settlements and over 100 "outposts" (settlements by another name) on the West Bank.

Palestinians have been waiting for a viable solution to their plight since 1948.  Arab leaders have offered lip service on their behalf  when it's expedient to do so (though more often than not they choose to ignore the matter), and the world community has effectively abandoned the Palestinian people.
Is it any wonder then that President Mahmoud Abbas has stated his intention to seek recognition for a Palestinian state at the United Nations this week?  If not now, when? 
The United States has threatened to veto this effort (in addition to threatening economic sanctions and withdrawal of U.S. government funding from the U.N.), but President Abbas maintains that if Palestine is recognized by the international body he will resume negotiations with Israel over all the issues that divide the two sides.  The difference would be that negotiations would now take place between two states, not one powerful state that holds all the cards and a supplicant begging for a few favors.

The impasse has lasted far too long already, and the settlements only continue to multiply.  Why not do what's morally right and support a Palestinian state now?  It's time for all of us to recognize they're people too, people with rights that include full sovereignty over the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.  Peace through justice... imagine that.

Bill Clinton's Common Sense

     I'll admit it right up front:  after the Monica Lewinsky affair, "common sense" was not an attribute I thought I'd ever assign to Bill Clinton.  But here we are in 2011, and the Tea Partiers are clearly determined to bring about the downfall of our nation, while the Republicans are falling all over themselves carrying out Tea Party edicts.  In other words, these folks are incapable of offering constructive ideas in the face of our economic stagnation--just more of the same:  when in doubt, surrender more of the nation's wealth to those who are already sitting pretty.
     On the other hand, in a recent Newsweek article Mr. Clinton offered up numerous common sense ideas for job creation.
     To begin with, he argued that in lieu of tax credits for start up companies, Congress should once again allow these credits to be converted into cash equivalents for every employee hired.  This had been a part of President Obama's energy policy, but last December the Republicans in Congress refused to extend this benefit--in effect saying "this is a spending program, not a tax cut... we only approve tax cuts."
     The former President maintained that the way we produce and use energy today could result in the same massive job growth that information technology provided during his administration.  He estimates, for example, that retrofitting buildings all across America would create over a million new jobs.  Citing the Empire State building project--which saw hundreds of jobs created, greenhouse gas emissions cut substantuially as overall electricity usage decreased by close to 40%, Mr. Clinton then argued that since 7000 jobs are created for every billion dollars in retrofitting, the construction industry would be kept busy for years--with effects from a million new jobs rippling all through the economy.  Schools, colleges, hospitals, state, county, and local government buildings throughout the country from coast to coast are ripe for retrofitting.
     While infrastructure initiatives would result in massive job creation, there aren't the votes in Congress to pass another stimulus package.  Clinton believes we need to unlock that money and take steps to get U.S. corporations to invest some of the $2 trillion they've accumulated. (Clinton points out that TARP and the stimulus saved us from a second Great Depression.  It worked, but didn't entirely "fix" the economy since an $800 billion stimulus simply couldn't fix a $3 trillion hole.) Mr. Clinton maintains that cutting government spending with the economy currently receiving so little private investment is incredibly risky, and will further increase the deficit as tax revenues fall.
     With regard to corporate taxes, Mr. Clinton acknowledges ours are the second highest in the world.  He advocates lowering the rates while simplifying the tax code and broadening the actual tax base.  This way, all
corporations will pay a reasonable amount of tax on their profits.  In other words, lower the rates to be competitive, but eliminate the loopholes that cause widespread discrepancies.
     Clinton is certainly ready to support individual state initiatives if that's where good ideas are originating.  While noting there are 3 million posted job vacancies (and filling them faster would make a huge difference to the economy) he cites a Georgia program where after vacancies go unfilled for a certain period of time, the state offers businesses money to train potential employees.  During the training, companies aren't yet employers, so they don't have to start paying Social Security taxes, or benefits.  Potential employees are trained the way the company desires, then they hire those who successfully complete that training.  Lag time is reduced, and a job vacancy is filled.
     In addressing the issue of rules and regulations that can often delay shovel-ready projects by up to 3 years, Mr. Clinton states that the federal government should be able to issue waivers(where there are no environmental concerns) to the states to speed up the starting time for construction projects, for example.
     There you have it, a number of solid, thoughtful ideas.  Pretty refreshing, wouldn't you say?  Alas, I doubt they'll ever be given the very serious consideration they deserve while the "nattering nabobs of negativity" (thanks you Spiro Agnew) Boehner, Cantor, Ryan, McConnell, etc. carry out their plans to undermine the President by any means necessary.  I suspect they'd rather torch the country than "compromise", or worse yet, have to forego the media spotlight.

Rick Perry to Execute Another Innocent Man?

     Rick Perry could be at it again.  He's anxiously awaiting the opportunity to add yet another notch to his grisly "execution belt".  There are 234 notches there already, and it includes a number of individuals who had substantial claims of innocence (notably Cameron Todd Willingham, but undoubtedly including others).  The lengths to which Perry goes in attempting to score death penalty points with the red-meat brigades, it's a wonder his campaign bus doesn't tow a death chamber gurney out behind it for maximum effect.
     Larry Swearingen was convicted in 1998 for the horrific kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 19 year old college freshman named Melissa Trotter.
     Three days after Trotter disappeared, police arrested Swearingen on (non-related) outstanding warrants.  When Melissa's body was discovered in the pine woods of Sam Houston National Forest some three weeks later, Swearingen was charged with capital murder.
     Although there was no direct evidence linking Swearingen to the murder, he was convicted on circumstantial evidence (including the fact that he was one of the last people to have seen Melissa prior to her disappearance) and sentenced to death.  (To read an excellent and detailed account of the case, see Jordan Smith's piece here http://news.yahoo.com/rick-perry-ready-execute-innocent-man-153945525.html )
     Medical evidence does not support the state's case, however, and actually points to a different killer.  Dr. Llyod White, a deputy medical examiner in Ft. Worth was the first to call the biological evidence into question.  In addition to the fact that the male DNA found in Trotter's fingernails does not match Swearingen's, there is tissue evidence supported by more than a half dozen Texas forensic scientists that is completely inconsistent with the state's theory of Trotter's death.
     In late 2007, Dr. Joyce Carter who was the chief ME in Houston, and who had performed the autopsy, recanted her trial testimony (which claimed Trotter had likely been dead for 25 days).  In fact, a 2009 analysis of the preserved histological evidence (never made available to the defense) revealed Trotter had likely been dead for only two or three days before being left in the woods--in other words, weeks after Swearingen was behind bars.  Dr. Stephen Pustilnik, the ME for Galveston County stated "the way biological tissue reacts during decomposition, there's no doubt about it.  Period.  End of story."
     The cellular structures of Trotter's lungs, heart, and vasculature were clearly intact--these are basic structures that break down quickly after death and certainly would not have remained intact in a body exposed to the elements for a month.
     Texas courts and prosecutors have a spotty record when it comes to accepting scientific evidence.  The doctors in the Swearingen case are adament that the science in question is undeniable.  They argue it's simply not possible that Trotter was killed and her body abandoned at that location by Swearingen.  Dr. White states this conclusion "is affirmed beyond all reasonable doubt."
     One can only hope, and pray, that this matter will be resolved swiftly and fairly in Swearingen's favor, and that the case doesn't wind up anywhere near The Lord High Executioner.  We know with certainty what Governor Perry would do...