Home > Jay Bookman > Archives > 2008 > June > 25 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USAt Justice Department, no respect for the law
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UPDATED, EXPANDED VERSION:
The U.S. Justice Department is easily the most powerful law-enforcement agency in the country. If used for the wrong purposes, its ability to commit the vast resources of the federal government against an individual or group can do great damage to lives and careers.
For that reason, laws and rules have been adopted to prevent the hijacking of the Justice Department to advance a partisan or ideological cause. Those laws exist to protect the principle that the law must be applied equally to all Americans, regardless of party, and that government should never be used as a weapon againt those who dare to oppose the party in power.
But that’s exactly what the Bush administration has done.
“It’s a tragedy because, for many years, the only agency that really had a standing as the untouchable agency from partisan politics was the Justice Department,” says David Inglesias, a former U.S. attorney and stalwart Republican fired because he refused to use his authority for partisan purposes. “And unfortunately, what’s happened over the past couple of years has tarred it with a very, very ugly brush … It’s a serious problem. The American people have the right to believe that ‘prosecutive’ decisions are made on the basis of evidence alone. And right now, that’s called into question.”
The campaign to turn the Justice Department into an enforcement arm of the Republican Party extended even to its hiring of legal interns. By federal law and by longtime tradition, legal internships at the Justice Department had been awarded strictly on the basis of merit. But in the Bush administration, the program was illegally hijacked.
Well-qualified students deemed to have some sort of hidden liberal bent were systematically rejected; less-qualified students with poorer academic records but a record of conservative activism were hired instead. It was affirmative action for the dumb but partisan.
The right-wing response to such charges will be that everyone does it. No, everyone does not do it. Before the Bush administration, nobody did it. Before the Bush administration, politicians of both parties had too much respect for the law and the power of the agency to stoop to such intellectual corruption. Administrations would come and go, both Republican and Democratic, and none of them attempted anything like what the Bush administration tried to do at the Justice Department. According to a new report by the Justice Department’s inspector general — a Republican, by the way — the Bush approach “constituted misconduct and also violated the department’s policies and civil service law that prohibit discrimination in hiring based on political or ideological affiliations.”
In other words, those appointed to enforce the law instead knowingly violated it to advance partisan interests.
The internship program is a relatively minor scandal, but it says a lot about the mindset inside the Bush Justice Department. Other investigations are under way into far more serious allegations made by Iglesias and others.
For example, did Bush officials use the department’s immense prosecutorial power to attack their enemies? Did they try to influence elections through selective or timely prosecutions? Were U.S. attorneys — good Republicans all — removed because they clung to the notion that the law and those who enforce it should be nonpartisan?
Yes, they probably were.
“It’s reprehensible. It’s unethical. It’s unlawful. It very well may be criminal.” Iglesias said in a PBS interview. “I know it’s a marked departure from prior administrations, both Republican and Democrat, who understood that U.S. attorneys, as chief federal law enforcement officials, have to stay out of politics.”
The days of the Bush administration grow few in number, and as they do, tongues will start flapping a little more freely. I expect we’ll start hearing stories of even more atrocious abuses of power by the Bush administration. But what we already know is enough to label it the worst administration in our nation’s history.
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Comments
By demwit
June 25, 2008 9:43 AM | Link to this
Whats new pussycat…
By Politics Aside
June 25, 2008 9:44 AM | Link to this
The video of M.C. Rove dancing around like a monkey is a terrific icon of the Bush Years. Rove is dancing on the constitution, the flag, and the Republic.
Obama 08: America takes over.
BTW: the electoral count contest? Is that with or without the supreme court’s nullification of popular and electoral will?
By demwit
June 25, 2008 9:52 AM | Link to this
Are we really comparing Bush and Clinton internship programs!? Well then.., obviously the interns deem to have a liberal bent by conservatives, where the ones coming in on bent knees!!
By GOPs got to go
June 25, 2008 9:57 AM | Link to this
Well written Jay.
The Internship might be considered a minor affair, but to those blacklisted interns I’m sure it was more than that.
This has the odor of McCarthyism all over it. Even the Republican Attorneys that tried to blow the whistle were fired by Gonzales. I am also sure it was more than a minor affair to them.
On an up note, that Ashcroft sure can sing. Let’s hope he gets the chance in front of the Congressional hearing sure to follow this administration’s ending.
By GOPs got to go
June 25, 2008 10:01 AM | Link to this
No Dimwit, It did not happen like that. That is the whole point. But then you are Dim.
By Redneck
June 25, 2008 10:10 AM | Link to this
Whats the matter left wingers? Your feelings got hurt cause some little “Che” wannabee didn’t get selected. I think it was great. Why would our Justice Department hire someone who believes that our system of laws are archaic and should be changed to something like those from from the ole USSR?
By Me Again
June 25, 2008 10:12 AM | Link to this
You know what Jay? I think it is so typical and boring that you only expose the Republican agendas. Everything the GOP does is bad, unethical, immoral, illegal, blah, blah, blah. What about the Clinton perjury, Whitewater scandal, oops, forgot those weren’t against the law, huh Jay? What about the left’s demand for national healthcare as a right? I’ve got news for everyone, not a right. Libs defense of the illegal immigrants. Those illegal Mexicans broke the law as well. But never a mention of that in the one of your columns. You make me sick. Keep pounding on that drum and trying to reach into everyone else’s pockets for everything. I truly don’t know how you, Lukovich and Tucker sleep at night. Idiots.
By Buzzer
June 25, 2008 10:13 AM | Link to this
Regardless of ideology one needs to up hold the law and not interpret or introduce new laws that only support their beliefs to the detriment of others. If that is the case we should vote them in. One thing I find funny here is that people are up in arms as they see the justice dept. not up holding the law. If you are for up holding the laws of this country, why are all the liberals OK with have the illegal immigrant get a free ride. The mentality of - Don’t do what I do, do as I say – is not freedom or democracy either. Everyone should practice what they preach! Would the liberals care if the justice dept was full only of liberals?
By Politics Aside
June 25, 2008 10:13 AM | Link to this
The Big Three: The Axles of Weasels.
All of our national problems can be traced to the Big Three automakers, GM, FORD, and Chrysler. They have repeatedly defied our legislation to increase the fleet MPG which should be double what it actually is now. They lobbied their way out of it. They quibbled and equivocated. Maybe even bribed.
The big three are the Axles of Weasels.
I say we prosecute the Axles of Weasels.
By Redneck
June 25, 2008 10:13 AM | Link to this
My previous post should read “system of government” rather than system of laws.
By EW
June 25, 2008 10:25 AM | Link to this
In related news, the people responsible are no longer in these roles as they were removed from government roles after these incidents happened.
Amazing how guys like Bookman (who is openly and appallingly partisan) can write an article bashing people for being partisan, even when this offending parties were removed.
By Off Target
June 25, 2008 10:30 AM | Link to this
What I would like to hear is a discussion of the racism that seems to have overtaken the Black community in America. It seems that racial hatred, bigotry and divisiveness has flourished in the African American community even as the white community has become less racially obsessed. What’s up with that?
By SillyPoliticos
June 25, 2008 10:32 AM | Link to this
Rubes, all of you. Hiring is objective. All President’s fill positions with like-parited individuals. Why is it a suprise to you that their hiring preferences go beyond their immediate staff? You hire people that are qualified, but more importantly, people you can work with. Worst administration? Are we forgetting our last President was impeached by Congress?
By chaps
June 25, 2008 10:32 AM | Link to this
Why on earth should an administration be required to hire people opposed to the administration’s philosophy and goals? How many pro-lifers work at Planned Parenthood? How many whaling supporters work at Greenpeace? How many conservatives work on Pelosi’s staff?
By bobfromCanton
June 25, 2008 10:33 AM | Link to this
Let me get this straight, it is now the letter of the law that we want the justice dept. to uphold? Where was this whining during the Clinton years? The dems always use the argument that “everyone is doing it”, but now it is a problem… you are kidding me!
By Me Again
June 25, 2008 10:36 AM | Link to this
Politics Aside makes a great point, however, I would ask that they not forget about the unions that are a boat anchor on this country and the economy
By AL
June 25, 2008 10:39 AM | Link to this
I say call in Janet (Butch) Reno. We need some expert advice on how to handle these situations.
By Thom
June 25, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this
“The right-wing response to such charges will be that everyone does it. No, everyone does not do it. Before the Bush administration, nobody did it”. Oh my! This is more than laughable! Mr.Bookman must be sniffing too much ink! Do you really think that ANYONE can believe the above quote? The Clintons were some of the most destructive to the law and tradition of this country. So, now that we read the article that you have written, we understand the blantant spin for the Obama bid for the White House. (McCain supports Bush and visa versa. Yeah, we get it). Who says we have to control the mud slinging coming from the politicians? It’s the media types like you that does the job for “your guy”, right? The media is already convicting Bush AND electing Obama as we speak. You think Bush is bad, and by the way I do…he sucks! But, you wait and see the twisting, skirting and outright abuse an Obama presidency has on the “law” of this country. But, I suppose you will conveniently forget to report those abuses…right? After all, you might be called a racist for that. And by God, that better not happen! Right? You could have saved a lot of time and money with this article Mr. Bookman. Here’s a revised version for ya: “I have it for Obama”.
By CJ
June 25, 2008 10:53 AM | Link to this
With respect to the illegal hiring program within the Bush justice department, the irony is that when President Obama begins to replace Bush idealogues with persons who are actually qualified, the right will accuse him of conducting an illegal hiring program. Funny…those Republicans.
By Duh
June 25, 2008 10:59 AM | Link to this
It’s asinine to argue Bush or anyone has the right to politicize every job in government. There are laws against doing so. Bush, like any president, gets his political appointees. But these positions at justice weren’t - or should I say shouldn’t have been - political. Career lawyers at justice are akin to beat cops in a police department or soldiers in the army. Would anyone argue that the army shouldn’t enlist the best fighting men available, but only the best fighting men who also vote Republican? And before anyone brings up the Clinton purge at DOJ, those WERE political positions, people who serve, as Republicans love to remind us, at the pleasure of the president. They weren’t career lawyers.
By Algonquin J. Calhoun
June 25, 2008 11:01 AM | Link to this
Bob from Canto, the Bush administration in nothing more than a ham-handed criminal organization. Don’t sit there and complain that every administration has acted similarly because that’s just not true. This disclosure of illegality in the In-Justice Department shouldn’t surprise anyone. After all, this is the administration that manufactured reasons to attack Iraq, a nation that had done nothin g to the United States. This is the administration that has engaged in wholesale torture and murder. This is the administration that has spied upon Americans and has trampled the Constitution at every opportunity. Justice will be coming for this administration soon! Bill clinto was impeached for a dalliance with an intern. Bush has committed murder on a huge scale, lied to Congress and the people, authorized torture. He, truly, is the Hitler of his day and he must be brought to trial for his crimes!
By RealityKing
June 25, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this
It was the Bill Clinton’s justice department that fired ALL current district attorneys, only to replace them with loyal party members lawyers. The same justice department that then investigated a historical number of not for profits groups, most of which just happened to be conservative churches or Bill OReilly. None of which came to anything more that wasted taxpayers money. Or how about the White House travel office..,everyone fired to be replaced by party loyality there too, any papers found stuffed under Bush’s bed lately? And of course, let’s not forget that Burger fellow, you know, the guy caught STEALING 911 papers from the government archives, papers critical of the last liberal administrations bungling of our national security. Didn’t hear a word of protest from Jay then… Oh, and how about Patti Solis Doyle, Hillary’s ousted campaign manager. Obama’s anointing of her as his VP’s chief of staff, even though he hasn’t selected one yet, must be do to her overwhelming qualifications as a winning campaign manager…, riggggght Jay!?
Is this type of unprecedented political corruption we’re talking about? Political corruption that some see only in Bush??
By Politics Aside
June 25, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this
The big 3: The Axles of Weasel. (gm, ford and chrysler weaseled out of our legislated demands concerning MPG fleet standards by lobbying, and bribing)
Obama 08: 4 the Access of People 2 stop the Axles of Weasel from dancing to the Axis of Evil’s oil tunes.
By Thom
June 25, 2008 11:15 AM | Link to this
To “Algonquin J. Calhoun”. The “Hitler of our time”!! Boy, I bet your parents were proud when you learned to talk. Let see: Zimbabwe, Burma, blah, blah, blah. Those are the “Hitlers of our day”. Oh, and your guy Obama will be as well. Thanks for showing us retardation runs in your family. Grab a clue.
By Copyleft
June 25, 2008 11:17 AM | Link to this
Illegally politicizing the hiring process? No surprise there. “Loyalty over competence” has been the model for the entire Bush administration, so why should we expect any different here?
By Gary
June 25, 2008 11:17 AM | Link to this
Bushism is the best thing that happened to Dems.All they have to do is say remember the Bush era? that will do it.It does to me & I am a republican.This guy become a disaster.
By Get Real
June 25, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this
Thom I guess you haven’t had the chance to read any of Wooten’s blogs and how they are in the tank for ‘your guy’ and W. still.
By Mike
June 25, 2008 11:27 AM | Link to this
Bookman ranting about Bush?
Somebody wake me up when Bookman scribes anything other than predictable partisan tripe.
By GOPs got to go
June 25, 2008 11:29 AM | Link to this
When Donald trump and Rosie O’Donnell can agree that Bush is the WORST president in the history of the US of A, it just might be true.
By mike
June 25, 2008 11:32 AM | Link to this
Typical Bookman/left propaganda. Did you dream this up last night and decide to write it as fact? Where is your proof that anything like this ever happened. Oh yeah, you guys don’t need proof, it is more fun to just make it up. This kind of thing is pitiful.
By TPA
June 25, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this
Mike,
You don’t believe the (Republican) Inspector General of the DOJ? ‘Cause that’s where Jay’s getting his facts from.
Just wondering…
By Thom
June 25, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this
To “Get Real”: There isn’t any of them my guys! I didn’t vote for Bush. He has all but wrecked us! McCain is preaching the same line. Obama is a token. I vote, “None of the above”.
By Truth
June 25, 2008 11:49 AM | Link to this
Worse than the Carter Administration????
By Observer
June 25, 2008 11:53 AM | Link to this
Jay Bookman writes: “Before the Bush administration, politicians of both parties had too much respect for the law and the power of the agency to stoop to such intellectual corruption.”
Are you kidding me? Prior administrations had too much respect for the law? What a joke! I guess it all depends on the definition of the word “is”.
By Truth
June 25, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this
Everytime I read one on these I see good ole CopyLeft and I realize the stupidity of the dumbmasses!
By Politics Aside
June 25, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this
This morning I exposed the Big Three Automaker’s role in our $4 gasoline.
I identified GM, Ford, and Chrysler as the Axles of Weasels, because it rhymes with Axis of Evil, and becaue they managed to weasel out of our CAFE legislation, the dirty rats.
But now I wish to completely change the tone and syntactical foreplay of prosaic prose and introduce a new topic: How the yankees in the american civil war in effect took axes to the boweeveled cotton industry of the south.
Obama 08: the fruition of our ancestor’s sacrifices when they took axes to boweevelists 4 the Access of People to combat the Axles of Weasels who dance to the Axis of Evil’s tunes.
By Slotl
June 25, 2008 11:56 AM | Link to this
Have patience. After January 20, 2009, all of them in the Bush Administration will be prosecuted for their CRIMES!!
Nothing can be done until after Bush leaves the White House otherwise, he will pardon all his “co-conspiratists”.
Hopefully, they will all rot in jail for their crimes against humanity, the American People, the US Constitution, and our Privacy Rights.
Maybe we can go back to “living our normal lives” without the fear factor and social issues these folks use as a smokescreen to their illegal activities.
Less than 6 months and counting!!!
By Observer
June 25, 2008 12:04 PM | Link to this
BTW - The Clinton administration still holds the record for the most cabinet level indictments. I guess it was because they had so much respect for the law.
I guess Bill Clinton being found guilty of perjury and being disbarred was due to his overriding respect for the law.
I guess Sandy Burger’s stealing classified documents from the National Archives was due to his respect for the law.
Jay, you have reached a new low. You are nothing more than a partisan journalistic hack. Of course, that being the case, the AJC is a perfect place for you to work.
By Thom
June 25, 2008 12:07 PM | Link to this
Look at the clowns! “Prosecuted for their crimes”. Stop daydreaming. “Earth to you. Earth to you”.
By Observer
June 25, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this
Jay Bookman writes: “For example, did they use that department’s immense prosecutorial power to attack their political enemies…”
Jay, how would that compare to the Clintons firing the entire White House Travel Office and having ALL of them audited by the IRS? In fact, the Clintons were systematic in their use of the IRS against their political opponents. Funny, I don’t remember you ever writing about that. Hmmm.
By Thom
June 25, 2008 12:20 PM | Link to this
Ok people! Lets stop inundating Mr. Bookman with the facts ok! Now it’s time for his nap. All you supporters of his dreamed up conspiracy, go tuck him in and give him his bottle.
By Jim
June 25, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this
You are wrong. I recall the Clinton White House also using an ideological litmus test in appointments to the internship program and to JD positions. They specifically looked for those who had supported or belonged to activist programs (eg voter registrations, ACLU, etc)
Same as it ever was.
By CommunistAJC
June 25, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this
Jay, Who cares? They’ll all get jobs with the ACLU so who cares? Democrats do this all the time. Obama Hussein will hire nothing but commie style interns and lawyers. Then you’ll be writing a different column altogether. I think it’s great that Bush doesn’t want to hire communists. If only we could send you packing. Oh wait, its just a matter of time before the AJC goes under.
By Bosch
June 25, 2008 12:39 PM | Link to this
Observer,
“The Clinton administration still holds the record for the most cabinet level indictments.”
I think you probably meant to write “investigations” and not “indictments” - there’s a pretty big difference.
I think the only cabinet members of Clinton’s to be indicted were Espy, who refused to plea bargain, went to trial, and was found not guilty, and Cisneros who worked out a plea bargain.
So that’s two.
By JAY BOOKMAN
June 25, 2008 12:42 PM | Link to this
To Observer:
The travel office? You compare the importance of travel agents to that of federal prosecutors? Gee, what kind of damage could politically motivated travel agents do? And there is no evidence that the Clintons could or did sic the IRS on them. It is a rightwing fantasy. If such a thing had occurred, surely Gingrich and his buddies would have investigated and proved it, right?
And to Jim: You “recall” things that did not happen. If they did, cite specifics. You can’t, because they did not occur. Political appointees at the Justice Department are politically appointed; permanent employees and interns are NOT hired on the basis of ideology and politics because there’s a law against it. The Bush people broke that law.
Are you defending lawbreakers?
By Politics Aside
June 25, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this
Wrong thom: the midterm firing of the attorneys is unprescedented in presedential annals.
We’ve never seen any other administration’s ax’n of legals like that B4. ever.
fact. So you’re axiom of drivel about the ax’n of legals is wrong.
By RealityKing
June 25, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this
Sorry for the history book guys but evidently Jay needs a lesson that doesn’t include the liberal revisions..
Because there is no question that Bill Clinton will be seen as heading the most corrupt administration in history. And that Miss Janet Reno was be seen as the worst of all his Cabinet appointments.
First of all, Miss Reno’s only visible qualifications for the post of attorney general were two: she was a woman and she had been a prosecutor…, an appointment of merit? It is also clear that she was not in charge from the begining, upon taking office, in an unexplained departure from the practice of recent administrations, Miss Reno suddenly fired all 93 U.S. attorneys. She said the decision had been made in conjunction with the White House. Translation: The President ordered it. And one need only look at the U.S. attorney in Little Rock Arkansas to see that Clinton protégés were the norm replacements.
Then quickly came the travel office, in fact, the Clintons had hardly been sworn in when they fired the entire staff of the White House travel office. The objective? To divert business to their political friends of course. The firings were so obviously unsupportable that the FBI was ordered by the White House to issue a press release suggesting criminality within the travel office. The head of the office was even indicted and tried, and of course acquitted almost instantly. An inquiry soon followed suggesting that it was Hillary herself that ordered the coup. That inquiry soon discovered that the White House had asked for and received 900 raw FBI files on Republicans and yet nobody knew who had issued the request or hired the unqualified security officer who carried it out!? (eyes rolling) Of course all the evidence pointed directly at Hillary, who continued to deny everything. She had obviously committed indictable offenses according to the FBI, and yet Janet Reno sat on her hands.
On the night of Vincent Foster’s suicide, his notes and files disappeared. White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum had removed the documents, reneging on his previous agreement to let Justice Department handle it. This prompted the then deputy attorney general, Philip Heymann, to resign, asking, “Bernie, are you hiding something?”
Then came the long-running Waco debacle that resulted in the deaths 47 children, again proving that Janet Reno was not in charge within the Justice Department. It was in fact Webster Hubbell, Hillary’s former law partner in Little Rock and Bill’s man at Justice, that coordinated tactics with the White House. The President did not even talk to his attorney general throughout the entire crisis.
Scandal followed scandal. And soon Janet Reno began to use the independent counsel as an out for every politically embarrassing investigations of the Clintonians, when the President permitted it of course. Then came Ken Starr, and his impressively compiled record of 14 convictions on pleas and verdicts from WH officials. The White House’s hysteria came to a head as Starr closed in on the Presidents preverse definitions of sexual contact. Starr’s indictments should have been quickly handed up by the grand jury and his report on possible impeachable offenses quickly delivered to the House of Representatives. But what was the inordinate delay in Starr’s proceedings?? The corrupt President of the United States of course. His conduct — from the delays to the litigation to the utterly specious privileges — Clinton’s presidential behavior was the moral equivalent of taking the fifth. And it is Janet Reno’s shame that she not only failed to defend her fellow councel from the White House smears but repeatedly assisted in the cover-up by actually opposing the truth in court.
But THE MOST important independent counsel, a counsel that again proves Janet Reno’s complicity in the White House’s obstruction of justice, is the counsel that never existed. The counsel that should have been formed to investigation the Asia donations to the Democratic presidential campaign. The FBI and the Department of Justice both refused to brief the White House about Chinese involvement because they did not trust the Clinton White House. No plainer conflict of interest could have existed. Louis Freeh and the FBI director Charles La Bella both stated that an independent counsel was required by law. But still, Janet Reno dithered. Why? Can it be that she and the President both knew that an investigation by an independent council would bring more shame upon the Clintons and Gores!?
Sorry Jay, but political corruption has been around as long as politicians. It’s a real shame that you can only see it on one side while wearing your kool-aid tinted glasses..
By Thom
June 25, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this
Wow BOOKMAN! That was a quick nap. You said, “cite specifics”. Why? Are you implying he needs proof? You didn’t! Nor do you have proof.
By Truth
June 25, 2008 12:57 PM | Link to this
Jay: Are you defending lawbreakers?
So I guess you are against all of the illegal aliens in the country because they broke the law entering this country…. You can have it both ways!!!
By Thom
June 25, 2008 12:58 PM | Link to this
To “Politics Aside”: I didn’t write that. You need to look at that one again.
By Bosch
June 25, 2008 12:58 PM | Link to this
Reality King@12:47,
As said by an September 1, 1998 article from the National Review written by Robert Bork of all people?
“Jay needs a lesson that doesn’t include the liberal revisions”
Sorry realityking, but none of us, and that includes Jay, needs bullsh!t from a pig like Bork.
A pig like Bork - which rhymes with Pork - as in pig.
BWA!!!
By usual suspect
June 25, 2008 1:07 PM | Link to this
Mr. Bookman, like Mr. Wooten, is a columnist. He’s hired to talk about the issues of the day through the lens of his opinion. That’s the point. It’s opinion. It’s not someone claiming to be ‘fair and balanced’ (whether they are or not is another issue). All this stuff about them being partisan is pointless. The whole point is that they’re partisan, just as we all are.
Don’t expect Mr. Bookman or any other columnist to take on an issue just because you think it’s important. They write about what they think matters, and they’re paid because you read it. You don’t like it? Get someone to listen to you about your unique and thoughtful points of view around illegal immigration. Can’t do that? Go find media that always agrees with your views on things.
The moral outrage over Democratic scandals of the 90s seems a little behind the times, doesn’t it? The Right tried and failed to impeach Clinton, right or wrong. They used legal procedure to push their beliefs as far as they could.
This column is about how the Right went from using legal means of pushing their agenda to using illegal means. They aren’t allowed to hire people based on their political beliefs. That’s illegal.
To the guy who said that not hiring some Che wannabe who believes in the USSR is a good thing consider this:
In the USSR you couldn’t get a job in government unless you were part of the Communist Party, like the non-Republican applicants in the Justice Department.
In the USSR, if you went against the party message you might get fired, sort of like the judges and federal prosecutors a few years back.
In the USSR, if you were a direct threat to the entrenched party, you might have ended up jailed, like the Alabama governor Don Siegelman.
Communism and capitalism is about how people spend their money. It’s got little to do with how we run our government and enforce our laws. The stuff reported in Mr. Bookman’s piece and all over the media is anti-democratic and illegal, just like the USSR, just like modern-day Russia. The parallels are striking. At least we can report on it here. God Bless the USA!
This a view worth haggling over.
By JAY BOOKMAN
June 25, 2008 1:08 PM | Link to this
To Thom:
I did cite proof. I cite the new report by Glenn Fine, inspector general of the Justice Department and a Republican to boot.
You can find the report here: www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/s0806/final.pdf
By J. Paul Smedley
June 25, 2008 1:18 PM | Link to this
As per usual, O’bookman regurgitates the Dem Party drivel and doesn’t have the decency to wipe himself afterwards - poor manners. If you want
O’slama/O’bookman ‘08 - Africa and his sidekick take over.
By Tha Man
June 25, 2008 1:19 PM | Link to this
Bookman- left wing boot licker. Case closed.
By Thom
June 25, 2008 1:20 PM | Link to this
Yes BOOKMAN, but it’s kind of discredited don’t you think. Maybe you are reading a little much into it, right? Also, you yourself discredit the whole deal by slanting it so far to the left that you are running in a constant circle. (A direction you seem to be comfortable with). The fact is: His “specifics” are proven by history. Not is based on a report that is unproven. “No less”!
By Blind Homer
June 25, 2008 1:24 PM | Link to this
Morons on the left and imbeciles on the right. Virtually every blogger today has been so blinded by partisan politics that they fail to realize our two party system has provided corrupt and/or incompetent administrations for about 50 years now.
By ThaMan
June 25, 2008 1:24 PM | Link to this
Bookman is an idiot. He calls the government and Republicans liars. He then turns around and cites a government web site to support some stupid crapola. Why would you believe them now? Only when it fits your agenda. You are a tool!
By Peg
June 25, 2008 1:27 PM | Link to this
George W. Bush will not be forgotten. If this was his wish, he’ll have it. However, the way in which he will be remembered and the actions this country needs to take to ensure we never have another self-appointed emperor will be historic. He has surrounded himself with Rasputins and yes-men (and women). I would not be surprised to see this man lose his mind in much the same way Napoleon lost his upon realizing he would never achieve his demented goal of conquering the earth and molding it to his insane desires.
By Thom
June 25, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
[Lets try this again.]To Observer The fact is: His {Observer}“specifics” are proven by history. Yours is based on a report that is unproven. There. That is better.
By Thom
June 25, 2008 1:32 PM | Link to this
[Lets try this again.]The fact is: His {Observer}“specifics” are proven by history. Yours is based on a report that is unproven. There. That is better.
By Thom
June 25, 2008 1:37 PM | Link to this
To “Blind Homer”: GOOD POINT!
By Kevin
June 25, 2008 1:42 PM | Link to this
And your only support for singling out Bush is the comment that “…No, everyone does not do it. Before the Bush administration, nobody did it.” Would you care to provide a reference for this statement?
If you are going to make this statement, please give some examples from the Clinton, Reagan and Carter administrations that support this statement.
By Me Again
June 25, 2008 1:45 PM | Link to this
I think it is funny now that Bookman is saying the law broken by the Clinton’s with the travel agents isn’t as bad as what Bush allegedly did with the DOJ. So now, I guess we give passes to different violations based on Bookman’s interpretation of severity. The law is the law, if it is broken it is broken, Jay. Not half way broken or a little bit broken. Jay you really amaze me. Is your conscience clean? Because if it is, then you should bottle whatever it is that makes you sleep and sell it. At least then you would be able to benefit financially. Of course, it would nice to see the flip flop that occurs to your political philosophy when a Socialist, I mean Democrat was elected and you suddenly had to finance the rest of the American dead beats on the take from the achievers in our society.
By WJC
June 25, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this
“The law is the law”
Well, depending on how you define the word is….
By reebok
June 25, 2008 2:22 PM | Link to this
Right-wing “thought” is hilarious…whatever is going on now is irrelevant, because Clinton had sex w/ an intern and Janet Reno is butch…so even though Bush has completely failed on every level, right-wingers want to talk about Whitewater. No wonder McFossil’s just going through the motions…the country has moved on while the Republicans want to ‘stay the course.’
By Slotl
June 25, 2008 2:48 PM | Link to this
usual suspect (1:07)
You are right on. There is NO dispute to any point that you make.
The difference between the USSR and the USA government is lobbyist and lobbyist influence. Yes, government has been corrupt for years (Democratic and Republican Administrations). This administration has gone TOO FAR. We, the citizens, are finally disgusted enough to do something about it in the voting booth.
A partial solution to the problem is term limits for Congress and the Senate, but since Washington will NEVER approve term limits for themselves(like they modified campaign spending - smiley icon here), it is time to “clean house”.
Vote OUT ALL incumbents. Regime change begins at home.
By demwit
June 25, 2008 3:05 PM | Link to this
When did academic standards suddenly become the main qualification for a government job? I do wonder which government intern, well connected political insider, complained about not getting that internship promised to them by their local politician…, evidently a liberal politician in this case.
And besides, who wants wild eyed anarchists interns, drunk off the liberal kool-aid, shouting protests and foaming hate at every turn? That’s certainly no way to distribute justice now is it…
By DK
June 25, 2008 3:08 PM | Link to this
Jay,
Wow Jay! You really do need to wipe that blue Kool-aid off your face. You sound like you’re drunk on the stuff. Do you even read the crap that you write?
“…the Bush administration, the worst administration in our nation’s history”
Had you attended classes rather that those “Young Communists for Carter” rallies, you’d have heard of James Buchanan - 15th President of the United States. While the U.S. slid into civil war, he hung his head and made excuses why he could do nothing about it. You also would have learned about Andrew Johnson - 17th President of the United States. He was busy being cheerleader for the KKK while the south quickly took away the rights of newly freed blacks; rights that had just been paid for by the blood and sacrifice of millions of Americans. You’d have heard of Herbert Hoover - 31st President of the United States. His name was so synonymous with failure that shantytowns were referred to as Hoovervilles. Of course we don’t want to forget your good buddy (the guy that I refer to as the worst president of my lifetime) Jimmy I’ve never met a dictator that I didn’t like Carter. His handling of the last energy crisis was more inept that Bush’s response to this one. Bush and his incompetent compadres couldn’t muck up the economy anywhere near as thoroughly in eight years as Carter was able to do in four. 20%+ interest rates and double-digit unemployment.
Jay, it seems to be your contention that Bush’s administration is full of a bunch of crooks that flaunt the law for their own petty purposes. Why then are you so willing to believe one of them (and don’t give me this “career prosecutor” crap, the inspector general is not a rank-and-file employee) when they criticize the administration? Any trained journalist would employ their critical thinking skills and be skeptical. One would think a man of your education and experience would realize that these officials are coming to the end of their run in power. A critical tell-all book by an insider will sell like hotcakes to you and your fellow travelers who would soak up every word, regardless of whether or not there is a kernel of truth to the charges. You are no different that the bozos of the late 90’s that didn’t let the facts get in the way of a good Clinton smearing. Don’t get me wrong, Bush is not a good president. His administration is chocked full of incompetent appointees; they definitely need to go. But I question the intelligence of anyone who seems to see the world through such a colored lens as the one you look through. Republican - bad, Democrat – good! Gesh, Grow up Jay!
By WillM
June 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Link to this
Jay, I’m one of your biggest fans, but I have a quibble here. You say: “The right-wing response to such charges will be that everyone does it” But actually that’s not quite right. What the right wing will say of course, as you can see here, is “Clinton did it!”.
But of course, in general we know that what you’re saying is correct. In no previous administration — not even Nixon, who until this one was the poster child for holding the government hostage in a quasi-guerilla attempt to advance a partisan takeover — has the absolute predominance of the political arm over actual governing been taken to such lengths as it has under Karl Rove.
But even those of use who recognize this have to ask ourselves a painful qusetion: could it be that Bill Clinton in fact paved the way in some way for Karl Rove? In other words, is there something to what these dogs are barking about here with regard to Clinton’s attempt to do just what Rove has so successfully and disastrously done?
By Capitol Hack
June 25, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this
I’m worried about you people. I’ve never seen a more poorly argued thread in my life. (Well, maybe I have…yesterday.) The lack of intellectual skills and dearth of reasoning exhibited here are embarrassing us all. Is it too difficult for you to lay off the insults and just read a d*mn column without feeling personally attacked? When you flame on like this, you’re only making yourself sound desperate and ridiculous. Take a civility pill, why don’t you? If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face, don’t write it.
By JeepersCreepers
June 25, 2008 3:42 PM | Link to this
Jay what do you give the COX spewpapers to print this stuff in the AJC? “The American people have the right to believe that ‘prosecutive’ decisions are made on the basis of evidence alone. And right now, that’s called into question.”” It sure it is….the liberals had Libby prosecuted for lying after he was intentionally and wrongly charged with revealing a non active CIA affirmative action agent. You know Jay you have access to the press but there are those of us who report you as Rush says,”Drive by Media”. What a genius that man is!! Jay you will never leave the cellar.
By JAY BOOKMAN
June 25, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this
Just for the record, back in the day when there were Democrats running things in Georgia and in Washington, we were harshly critical at times of those Democrats.
We were very hard on Speaker Murphy, and had an antagonistic relationship with him. We took great issue with Gov. Barnes on topics such as the Outer Perimeter. And I personally wrote columns and editorials urging Bill Clinton to resign after the Lewinsky revelations.
By Algonquin J. Calhoun
June 25, 2008 3:56 PM | Link to this
Creep, Libby violated the law, was charged and found guilty. He was pardoned by the fuhrer to keep him from running his mouth. Give us a break on whatever Rush might say. We don’t need to have knowledge of the blatherings of a pill junkie!
By TPA
June 25, 2008 3:59 PM | Link to this
Dearest JeepersCreepers,
How in the world did “the liberals” (add ominous sound effect at will) have anything whatsoever to do with Scooter Libby’s conviction? Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, is a Bush appointee (appointed on the request of the Republican Senator who preceded Barack Obama, no less). The judge in the case, Reggie Walton, is also a Bush appointee. Libby was convicted by jury trial. How on earth does that translate into a hatchet jobs by “the liberals?”
Why don’t you step away from the computer and put on your tinfoil hat - I think the aliens have been putting thoughts in your head again…
By swolf4810
June 25, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this
Bush philosophy: “By whatever means necissary…….and don’t worry about the Constitution.”
By Swiftboat McCain Now
June 25, 2008 4:23 PM | Link to this
Wait to hear the sissyboys of the Republican Party whine and cry when their ilk is not properly represented in the Justice Department in the years to come.
Hell, they may even try to impeach President Obama over it if they have to.
By hhhhmmmm
June 25, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this
I agree with you, Jay. If the Bush administration had Justice use a litmus test for hirees, it should see the light of day and be condemned by everyone. But please don’t try to sell the idea that “Before the Bush admin, politicians of both parties had too much respect for the law and the power of the agency to stoop to such intellectual corruption.”
Bush’s administration has done some bad things, but lets not idealize past administrations in our hurry to castigate this one. As a partisan columnist, surely you see the shortsightedness of this strategy. In a few short years, we’ll be scurrying to demonize the Obama administration. It never changes.
By Frederick Douglass
June 25, 2008 5:09 PM | Link to this
For the first time in U.S history, there just might be a cross burning on the White House lawn, quite possibly at McKKKain’s inaugural bash.
By Laquandra
June 25, 2008 5:16 PM | Link to this
When I saw the original title for this blog, “No Respect for the Law,” I thought it was going to be about blacks under the age of 40. Boy, was I wrong!
By dj
June 25, 2008 5:37 PM | Link to this
Agree with Capital Hack. As someone who is of a certain age and gender, born and raised in GA, in church everytime the doors were open, blue collar family, some college, I never cease to be stunned at the degree of vitriol exhibited by Republicans toward anyone that doesn’t kiss the ring.
dj out - wasted enough time here Ps. Jay - you have to hope, one day… maybe one day, the blind will see. When I travel, and someone NOT from here finds out where I’m from, they kind of look at me like “oh - your poor dumb cluck “. The ignorance displayed on this website begs one to wonder if anyone on “the right” ever bothers to think that they might - just might not be? 200%? All of the time? About everything?
By donald
June 25, 2008 5:37 PM | Link to this
Does not surprise me one bit. Hitler did the same, having Nazi’s in power who were hewn to his views. When will the fools out there wake up!? Bush and his ilk are idiots, plain and simple, so when you keep hiring deadbeats because they are with your “master plan” the results are what you see. The dimwit who responded earlier is just that, a headless moron that Bush would love because an idiot like him would do anything he’s told. We have plenty of them out here like him, and there are plenty more McBush and Co. will be hiring if he’s elected.
By Mobama
June 25, 2008 5:51 PM | Link to this
Some years ago, Jay Bookman decided to become a flack for the democrats. It’s really funny to see him try to portray himself as somehow “even handed”. We read his columns and know that he is a toady for the left and nothing more. Why would any one care what he writes?
By GOPs got to go
June 25, 2008 6:20 PM | Link to this
I know how you feel dj, On a recent trip to Ireland, I was sitting in a pub next to a 96 yr old man. When he found out I was a “Yank” the next questions was “How did such a great country elect such an EEEdiot?” All I could say is, sorry, I voted for the other guy.
By Borat Obama
June 25, 2008 6:28 PM | Link to this
Huh? Haven’t you gotten Bush mixed with Bill Clinton as far as using the Justice Department. No, wait, that was the IRS.
By Algonquin J. Calhoun
June 25, 2008 6:30 PM | Link to this
By Mobama June 25, 2008 5:51 PM | Link to this Some years ago, Jay Bookman decided to become a flack for the democrats. It’s really funny to see him try to portray himself as somehow “even handed”. We read his columns and know that he is a toady for the left and nothing more. Why would any one care what he writes?
Why the hell are you commenting here if you do not care what Jay writes? Typical confused Republinazi!
By GOPs got to go
June 25, 2008 6:30 PM | Link to this
I see Dusty is back from her tennis lesson and topping off her Hummer.
Jay, I hope you make more money than Wooten. The amount and quality of your writing far exceeds his. Please pass this on to your superior at the AJC.
By Ramguy
June 25, 2008 7:52 PM | Link to this
The only thing worse than the people who elected the Shrub not once but twice, is the handful of morons that still support him.
By Art
June 25, 2008 8:37 PM | Link to this
GOPs got to go, if you ever saw Dusty you’d know that at 300 plus lbs that she doesn’t play tennis. And it takes a Hummer to haul all that gross lard around. Cut her some slack.
By Al S.
June 25, 2008 8:44 PM | Link to this
I used to think that the right wing trash were just indoctrinated lemmings. Alas, I was wrong. They’re just stupid.
By DK
June 25, 2008 9:04 PM | Link to this
Jay,
So you’re fair and balanced, eh? Equally reporting on those in power, huh? Well, let’s see. I read the six entries on your Recent entries section of this page. While I didn’t include this piece, it would have just further bolstered my point. Here are the titles and my brief synopses of the points you’re trying to make in your articles:
I’ve been trying to tell y’all… A piece that points out your disagreement with an initiative of Sen. McCain’s
*Can you predict the electoral college? * You admit that a point of your writing is to highlight good news for Sen. Obama
*John McCain and terrorism * Piece that highlights a gaff of Sen. McCain’s campaign
*Atlanta’s getting lapped in the race to the future * You highlight and action taken by the CITY of Houston, TX., but blame Georgia’s Republican state government when it doesn’t get done here. Regional authorities can be created in Georgia. Why should people in Waycross pay for rapid rail in N. Georgia?
*George Carlin will never rest in peace * Politically neutral
*Blame it all on the greenies … * An intellectually dishonest piece that criticizes Republicans while ignoring the fact that excessive regulation and statutory hurdles, borne from knee-jerk environmental hysteria, is partly responsible for the high costs involved in these endeavors.
Six articles - one politically neutral, one cheerleading Sen. Obama’s candidacy, four slamming Republicans. Jay, you’re about as fair and balanced as Fox News.
Oh yea, since you’re just doing your journalistic duty and going after all those in power equally, I’ll be interested to read all those pieces that must be coming where you’re criticizing the Democratic-controlled Congress.
By JAY BOOKMAN
June 25, 2008 9:21 PM | Link to this
I made no claim to be fair and balanced, DK. That’s someone else’s line of baloney, not mine.
Nor do I claim “equal reporting on those in power.”
I do claim, and do practice, calling them as I see them. Sometimes that means criticizing the Dems. More often it means criticizing the Reps, because I disagree with them more often. Sorry if that shocks you. Not a hard concept to grasp though. Not for most people.
By Reap
June 26, 2008 12:41 AM | Link to this
This article was spot on. It reminds me of the GA Republicans redrawing the Congressional districts in 2005. The DOJ “pre-clearance” process was a total sham. Very planned. I got to see first hand how infiltrated the Justice Department is.
By zeke
June 26, 2008 1:01 AM | Link to this
HOORAY for the Bush administration! We need to weed out all the closet liberals in all areas of government!!
By zeke
June 26, 2008 1:02 AM | Link to this
HOORAY for the Bush administration! We need to weed out all the closet liberals in all areas of government!!
By sam
June 26, 2008 7:25 AM | Link to this
The Bush administration’s biggest mistake was not clearing out all Liberals from all areas of government in the first 60 days after taking office. Liberals are liars and backstabbing partisan hacks. It’s funny how Jay gives the Clinton administration a complete pass on Filegate, travelgate, whitewater, b***** in the oval office, leaving our country vulnerable to terrorist attack, pardoning criminals, Waco, Ruby Ridge….the list goes on and on.
By DemScam
June 26, 2008 7:30 AM | Link to this
Let’s look at the big list of Democrats respecting the law….
William Jefferson Clinton- Impeached by the House of Representatives over allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice, but acquitted by the Senate. Scandals include Whitewater - Travelgate Gennifer Flowersgate - Filegate - Vince Fostergate - Whitewater Billing Recordsgate - Paula Jonesgate- Lincoln Bedroomgate - Donations from Convicted Drug and Weapons Dealersgate - Lippogate - Chinagate - The Lewinsky Affair - Perjury and Jobs for Lewinskygate - Kathleen Willeygate - Web Hubbell Prison Phone Callgate - Selling Military Technology to the Chinesegate - Jaunita Broaddrick Gate - Lootergate - Pardongate
Edward Moore Kennedy - Democrat - U. S. Senator from Massachusetts. Pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, after his car plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.
Barney Frank - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1981 to present. Admitted to having paid Stephen L. Gobie, a male prostitute, for sex and subsequently hiring Gobie as his personal assistant. Gobie used the congressman’s Washington apartment for prostitution. A move to expel Frank from the House of Representatives failed and a motion to censure him failed.
DNC - The Federal Election Commission imposed $719,000 in fines against participants in the 1996 Democratic Party fundraising scandals involving contributions from China, Korea and other foreign sources. The Federal Election Commission said it decided to drop cases against contributors of more than $3 million in illegal DNC contributions because the respondents left the country or the corporations are defunct.
Sandy Berger - Democrat - National Security Advisor during the Clinton Administration. Berger became the focus of a criminal investigation after removing highly classified terrorism documents and handwritten notes from the National Archives during preparations for the Sept. 11 commission hearings.
Robert Torricelli - Democrat - Withdrew from the 2002 Senate race with less than 30 days before the election because of controversy over personal gifts he took from a major campaign donor and questions about campaign donations from 1996.
James McGreevey - Democrat - New Jersey Governor . Admitted to having a gay affair. Resigned after allegations of sexual harassment, rumors of being blackmailed on top of fundraising investigations and indictments.
Jesse Jackson - Democrat - Democratic candidate for President. Admitted to having an extramarital affair and fathering a illegitimate child.
Gary Condit - Democrat - US Democratic Congressman from California. Condit had an affair with an intern. Condit, covered up the affair and lied to police after she went missing. No charges were ever filed against Condit. Her remains were discovered in a Washington DC park..
Eliot Spitzer- Democrat - New York governor - resigned from office after being tied to a prostitution ring.
Sowande Ajumoke Omokunde - Democrat - the son of newly elected U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, was booked on charges of criminal damage to property for allegedly slashing tires on 20 vans and cars rented by the Republican Party for use in Election Day voter turnout efforts.
Daniel David Rostenkowski - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1959 to 1995. Indicted on 17 felony charges- pleaded guilty to two counts of misuse of public funds and sentenced to seventeen months in federal prison.
Melvin Jay Reynolds - U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1993 to 1995. Convicted on sexual misconduct and obstruction of justice charges and sentenced to five years in prison.
Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Michigan from 1955 to 1980. Convicted on eleven counts of mail fraud and filing false payroll forms- sentenced to three years in prison.
George Rogers - Democrat - Massachusetts State House of Representatives from 1965 to 1970. M000ember of Massachusetts State Senate from 1975 to 1978. Convicted of bribery in 1978 and sentenced to two years in prison.
Don Siegelman - Democrat Governor Alabama - indicted in a bid-rigging scheme involving a maternity-care program. The charges accused Siegelman and his former chief of staff of helping Tuscaloosa physician Phillip Bobo rig bids. Siegelman was accused of moving $550,000 from the state education budget to the State Fire College in Tuscaloosa so Bobo could use the money to pay off a competitor for a state contract for maternity care.
John Murtha, Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania. Implicated in the Abscam sting, in which FBI agents impersonating Arab businessmen offered bribes to political figures; Murtha was cited as an unindicted co-conspirator
Gerry Eastman Studds - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1973 to 1997. The first openly gay member of Congress. Censured by the House of Representatives for having sexual relations with a teenage House page.
James C. Green - Democrat - North Carolina State House of Representatives from 1961 to 1977. Charged with accepting a bribe from an undercover FBI agent, but was acquitted. Convicted of tax evasion in 1997.
Frederick Richmond - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New York from 1975 to 1982. Arrested in Washington, D.C., in 1978 for soliciting sex from a minor and from an undercover police officer - pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Also - charged with tax evasion, marijuana possession, and improper payments to a federal employee - pleaded guilty.
Raymond Lederer - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1977 to 1981. Implicated in the Abscam sting - convicted of bribery and sentenced to three years in prison and fined $20,000.
Harrison Arlington Williams, Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1959 to 1970. Implicated in the Abscam sting. Allegedly accepted an 18% interest in a titanium mine. Convicted of nine counts of bribery, conspiracy, receiving an unlawful gratuity, conflict of interest, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. Sentenced to three years in prison and fined $50,000.
Frank Thompson, Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New Jersey from 1955 to 1980. Implicated in the Abscam sting, convicted on bribery and conspiracy charges. Sentenced to three years in prison
Michael Joseph Myers - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1976 to 1980. Implicated in the Abscam sting - convicted of bribery and conspiracy; sentenced to three years in prison and fined $20,000; expelled from the House of Representatives on October 2, 1980.
John Michael Murphy - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New York from 1963 to 1981. Implicated in the Abscam sting. Convicted of conspiracy, conflict of interest, and accepting an illegal gratuity. Sentenced to three years in prison and fined $20,000.
John Wilson Jenrette, Jr - Democrat - U.S. Representative from South Carolina from 1975 to 1980. Implicated in the Abscam sting. Convicted on bribery and conspiracy charges and sentenced to prison
Neil Goldschmidt - Democrat - Oregon governor. Admitted to having an illegal sexual relationship with a 14-year-old teenager while he was serving as Mayor of Portland.
Alcee Lamar Hastings - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Florida. Impeached and removed from office as federal judge in 1989 over bribery charges.
Marion Barry - Democrat - mayor of Washington, D.C., from 1979 to 1991 and again from 1995 to 1999. Convicted of cocaine possession after being caught on videotape smoking crack cocaine. Sentenced to six months in prison.
Mario Biaggi - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New York from 1969 to 1988. Indicted on federal charges that he had accepted bribes in return for influence on federal contracts.Convicted of obstructing justice and accepting illegal gratuities. Tried in 1988 on federal racketeering charges and convicted on 15 felony counts.
Lee Alexander - Democrat - Mayor of Syracuse, N.Y. from 1970 to 1985. Was indicted over a $1.5 million kickback scandal. Pleaded guilty to racketeering and tax evasion charges. Served six years in prison.
Bill Campbell - Democrat - Mayor of Atlanta. Indicted and charged with fraud over claims he accepted improper payments from contractors seeking city contracts.
Frank Ballance - Democrat - Congressman North Carolina. Pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering related to mishandling of money by his charitable foundation.
Hazel O’Leary - Democrat - Secretary of Energy during the Clinton Administration - O’leary took trips all over the world as Secretary with as many 50 staff members and at times rented a plane, which was used by Madonna during her concert tours.
Lafayette Thomas - Democrat - Candidate for Tennessee State House of Representatives in 1954. Sheriff of Davidson County, from 1972 to 1990. Indicted in federal court on 54 counts of abusing his power as sheriff. Pleaded guilty to theft and mail fraud; sentenced to five years in prison.
Mary Rose Oakar - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1977 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of funneling $16,000 through fake donors.
David Giles - Democrat - candidate for U.S. Representative from Washington in 1986 and 1990. Convicted in June 2000 of child rape.
Gary Siplin - Democrat state senator Florida- found guilty of third-degree grand theft of $5,000 or more, a felony, and using services of employees for his candidacy.
Edward Mezvinsky - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Iowa from 1973 to 1977. Indicted on 56 federal fraud charges.
Lena Swanson - Democrat - Member of Washington State Senate in 1997. Pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting unlawful payments from veterans and former prisoners of war.
Abraham J. Hirschfeld - Democrat - candidate in Democratic primary for U.S. Senator from New York in 1974 and 1976. Offered Paula Jones $1 million to drop her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton. Convicted in 2000 of trying to hire a hit man to kill his business partner.
Henry Cisneros - Democrat - U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1997. Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of lying to the FBI.
James A. Traficant Jr. - Member of House of Representatives from Ohio. Expelled from Congress after being convicted of corruption charges. Sentenced today to eight years in prison for accepting bribes and kickbacks.
John Doug Hays - Democrat - member of Kentucky State Senate from 1980 to 1982 Found guilty of mail fraud for submitting false campaign reports stemming from an unsuccessful run for judge. He was sentenced to six months in prison to be followed by six months of home confinement and three years of probation.
Henry J. Cianfrani - Democrat - Pennsylvania State Senate from 1967 to 1976. Convicted on federal charges of racketeering and mail fraud for padding his Senate payroll. Sentenced to five years in federal prison.
David Hall - Democrat - Governor of Oklahoma from 1971 to 1975. Indicted on extortion and conspiracy charges. Convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.
John A. Celona - Democrat - A former state senator was charged with the three counts of mail fraud. Federal prosecutors accused him of defrauding the state and collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars from CVS Corp. and others while serving in the legislature. Celona has agreed to plead guilty to taking money from the CVS pharmacy chain and other companies that had interest in legislation. Under the deal, Celona agreed to cooperate with investigators. He faces up to five years in federal prison on each of the three counts and a $250,000 fine
Allan Turner Howe - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Utah from 1975 to 1977. Arrested for soliciting a policewoman posing as a prostitute.
Jerry Cosentino - Democrat - Illinois State Treasurer. Pleaded guilty to bank fraud - fined $5,000 and sentenced to nine months home confinement.
Joseph Waggonner Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1961 to 19 79. Arrested in Washington, D.C. for soliciting a policewoman posing as a prostitute
Albert G. Bustamante - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Texas from 1985 to 1993. Convicted in 1993 on racketeering and bribery charges and sentenced to prison.
Lawrence Jack Smith - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Florida from 1983 to 1993. Sentenced to three months in federal prison for tax evasion.
David Lee Walters - Democrat - Governor of Oklahoma from 1991 to 1995. Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor election law violation.
James Guy Tucker, Jr. - Democrat - Governor of Arkansas from 1992 to 1996. Resigned in July 1996 after conviction on federal fraud charges as part of the Whitewater investigation.
Walter Rayford Tucker - Democrat - Mayor of Compton, California from 1991 to 1992; U.S. Representative from California from 1993 to 1995. Sentenced to 27 months in prison for extortion and tax evasion.
William McCuen - Democrat - Secretary of State of Arkansas from 1985 to 1995. Admitted accepting kickbacks from two supporters he gave jobs, and not paying taxes on the money. Admitted to conspiring with a political consultant to split $53,560 embezzled from the state in a sham transaction. He was indicted on corruption charges. Pleaded guilty to felony counts tax evasion and accepting a kickback. Sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Walter Fauntroy - Democrat - Delegate to U.S. Congress from the District of Columbia from 1971 to 1991. Charged in federal court with making false statements on financial disclosure forms. Pleaded guilty to one felony count and sentenced to probation.
Carroll Hubbard, Jr. - Democrat - Kentucky State Senate from 1968 to 1975 and U.S. Representative from Kentucky from 1975 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the Federal Elections Commission and to theft of government property; sentenced to three years in prison.
Joseph Kolter - Democrat - member of Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from 1969 to 1982 and U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1983 to 1993. Indicted by a Federal grand jury on five felony charges of embezzlement at the U.S. House post office. Pleaded guilty.
Webster Hubbell - Democrat - Chief Justice of Arkansas State Supreme Court in 1983. Pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud and tax evasion charges - sentenced to 21 months in prison.
Nicholas Mavroules - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to charges of tax fraud and accepting gratuities while in office.
Carl Christopher Perkins - Democrat - Kentucky State House of Representatives from 1981 to 1984 and U.S. Representative from Kentucky from 1985 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to bank fraud in connection with the House banking scandal. Perkins wrote overdrafts totaling about $300,000. Pleaded guilty to charges of filing false statements with the Federal Election Commission and false financial disclosure reports. Sentenced to 21 months in prison.
Richard Hanna - Democrat - U.S. Representative from California from 1963 to 1974. Received payments of about $200,000 from a Korean businessman in what became known as the “Koreagate” influence buying scandal. Pleaded guilty and sentenced to federal prison.
Angelo Errichetti - Democrat - New Jersey State Senator was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $40,000 for his involvement in Abscam.
Daniel Baugh Brewster - Democrat - U.S. Senator from Maryland. Indicted on charges of accepting illegal gratuity while in Senate.
Thomas Joseph Dodd - Democrat - U.S. Senator from Connecticut. Censured by the Senate for financial improprieties, having diverted $116,000 in campaign and testimonial funds to his own use
Edward Fretwell Prichard, Jr. - Democrat - Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Kentucky. Convicted of vote fraud in federal court in connection with ballot-box stuffing. Served five months in prison.
Jerry Springer - Democrat - Resigned from Cincinnati City Council in 1974 after admitting to paying a prostitute with a personal check, which was found in a police raid on a massage parlor.
Guy Hamilton Jones, Sr. - Democrat -Arkansas State Senate. Convicted on federal tax charges and expelled from the Arkansas Senate.
Daniel Flood - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1945 to 1947, 1949 to 1953 and 1955 to 1980. Pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge involving payoffs and sentenced to probation.
Otto Kerner, Jr - Democrat - Governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968. While serving as Governor, he and another official made a gain of over $300,000 in a stock deal. Convicted on 17 counts of bribery, conspiracy, perjury, and related charges. Sentenced to three years in federal prison and fined $50,000.
George Crockett, Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Michigan. Served four months in federal prison for contempt of court following his defense of a Communist leader on trial for advocating the overthrow of the government.
Cornelius Edward Gallagher - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New Jersey from 1959 to 1973. Indicted on federal charges of income tax evasion, conspiracy, and perjury
Mark B. Jimenez - Democrat fundraiser - sentenced to 27 months in prison on charges of tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States and commit election financing offenses.
Bobby Lee Rush - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Illinois. As a Black Panther, spent six months in prison on a weapons charge.
Bolley ”Bo” Johnson - Democrat - Former Florida House Speaker - received a two-year term for tax evasion.
Roger L. Green - Democrat - Brooklyn Democrat Assemblyman. Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for accepting travel reimbursement for trips he did not pay for and was sentenced to fines and probation.
Gloria Davis - Democrat - Bronx assemblywoman. Pleaded guilty to second-degree bribe-taking.
By GOPs got to go
June 26, 2008 7:32 AM | Link to this
Your probably right Art, I guess it was an urgent Bible study group.
Or possibly she was taking one of her home schooled brood to therapy
By GOPs got to go
June 26, 2008 7:35 AM | Link to this
Please keep a watch on DemScam Jay.
He is a tower shooter if ever there was one.
By CherokeeDave
June 26, 2008 9:21 AM | Link to this
Jay, you continue to amaze me. “Respect for the law” and “stooping to ntellectual corruption”. Wake up you sleeping liberal idiot! Clinton was on his knees (not a Lewinsky crack either) to keep his “owned and operated” Justice Department out of his scandals by the truckload. DemScam’s a “little bit” overboard but he’s got it right with WJC. Wake up man and at least TRY to achieve some degree of journalistic integrity or opinionated honesty. Your not drinking this Kool-Aid crap your breathing it like air.
By hillbilly ragger
June 26, 2008 9:26 AM | Link to this
CherokeeDope, feel free to cite the Clinton Justice Department scandals that parallel Bush’s.
Go ahead, we’ll wait.
By CherokeeDave
June 26, 2008 10:36 AM | Link to this
Re:Hillbilly ragger I realize you may not understand the directions but do try. Look Up and Read DemScam 7:30am Section 1, Referencing William Jefferson Clinton. See List and Weep. There is no parallel to Clintons abuse of the Justice Department “looking the other way at Clinton’s demand”. Get Real, Get Right and Get Republican. Bush had the RIGHT to release whomever he pleased because under the rules “they serve at the Presidents discretion”. Get over it.
By WillM
June 26, 2008 11:17 AM | Link to this
Hey. guy who said this: “Bush had the RIGHT to release whomever he pleased because under the rules “they serve at the Presidents discretion””
got a question for you:
You mean that in the sense of “at the Emporer’s discretion”?
By WillM
June 26, 2008 11:22 AM | Link to this
…pardon the misspell: should have been :
at the “emperor’s discretion?
Is that how you see it?
By hillbilly ragger
June 26, 2008 12:15 PM | Link to this
CherDope, you haven’t produced a single parallel Justice Dept. example. Citing some loon’s uncited list (and not even giving a specific point on which to fix) doesn’t count.
You had your chance. You lose.
By CherokeeDave
June 26, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this
Re:WillM, Look closely at the rules friend. You can use slimy terms like “emperor” until its a Dem under fire. The ONLY mistake Bush made in this was waiting so long to clean the “lefties” out of the Justice Department so late in his tenure. He has the right to do so, Jay Bookmam is wrong and THAT’s the end of the subject.
Re: Hillbilly Ragger. Loser?? What childish terms you Libs resort to when don’t have the skills for argument and debate. Under Bookmans quotes ” this agency for years HAD the reputation as the untouchable department from partisan politics”. WHAT A JOKE OF A COMMENT. Clinton was a MAJOR abuser and welded his power aggressively. 1.) 600+ FBI files on opponents pulled, reviewed and investigated by Clintons Ilk and told the Justice Department to back off. 2.) The Rosewood Files 3.) Travelgate. 4.) Multiple Accounts of Female Abuse WHILE in the White House. (Justice told to back off) etc.etc. etc. Hey RAGGER, would you like some more???? Clinton was 1000 times worse the Bush has ever been . PERIOD, ENOUGH SAID.
By hillbilly ragger
June 26, 2008 2:40 PM | Link to this
CherDope, you still don’t have a cite. Not one.
Wailing away about crap you’ve heard third-hand from Drudge and El Rushbo doesn’t count.
You lose.
By Frederick Douglass
June 26, 2008 3:56 PM | Link to this
DemScam, you need to get a job or a life.
By CherokeeDave
June 26, 2008 4:35 PM | Link to this
Re: HRaghead: If Rush and Drudge are third hand then that agenda driven drivel you listen to at CNN is pure Kool Aid and Air. Like Cruise to Nicholson “You can’t handle the truth”. Your just filled with pure hate for Bush and that is the result of the third rate crap you listen to and read everyday. Give it up Ragman, the loser is staring back at in your mirror!!
By hillbilly ragger
June 26, 2008 4:55 PM | Link to this
And for the fourth time, CheroDope has nothing.
But do go on attacking me (the idea that I “listen to CNN” is particularly laughable); it only exposes how little you know about topic at hand.
All of those “-gates” you mentioned were wingnut fantasies. None of them constituted documented improprieties, and none of them are anywhere near the scale of the Bush Justice department’s willful disregard for the law.
Tell me—when did Clinton administration officials simply ignore subpeonas? When did a Clinton attorney general refuse to answer questions under oath, claming to have forgotten virtually everything that had happened under his watch? When did the Clinton Justice Department apply a litmus test and prevent the nation’s top ranking students from entry-level positions based on that student’s ideology—a practice which, if you haven’t caught on yet, is patently illegal?
The only reason the Bush Justice Department scandals haven’t caught fire with the public is because it’s hard to be any more outraged over this administration than we already are over Iraq, and our failure to properly avenge the deaths of 9/11. THAT’s why your Chimp has history’s highest disapproval numbers with the public.
You can’t handle that truth—which is why you make up your own version, as filtered by Drudge and Rush.
You lose.
By Ms. Tucker If Ur Nasty
June 26, 2008 4:58 PM | Link to this
Trillions spent after “Missiom Accomplished”, we should at least get a Christmas card from Bin Laden, or some kind of token of gratitude.
By hillbilly ragger
June 27, 2008 7:33 AM | Link to this
By Ms. Tucker If Ur Nasty
Best. AJC.com/blogs Screen name. Ever.
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June 29, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this
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June 29, 2008 1:55 PM | Link to this
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June 29, 2008 5:39 PM | Link to this
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July 1, 2008 1:19 PM | Link to this
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By Progressive
July 23, 2008 3:59 PM | Link to this
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By JBlume
November 22, 2008 10:17 AM | Link to this
What about these Republicans who crimes range from posing nude to rape and murder ? Bruce Barclay,Matthew Joseph Elliott,Vito Fossella,Robert McKee,Daniel Dean Thompson,Derek Walker,Robert “Bob” Allen,John David Roy Atchison,E. Ozwald Balfour,John Bryan,Larry Craig,John R. Curtin, Richard Curtis,Donald Fleischman,Larry Dale Floyd,Ted Klaudt,Ronald C. Kline,Joseph M. McDade,Patrick Lee McGuire,Jon Matthews,Joseph Monteleone Jr.,Glenn Murphy Jr.,Armando Tebano, David Vittner,Steve Aiken, Louis Beres,Howard L. Brooks,Randall Casseday,Larry Corrigan,Carey Lee Cramer,Mark Foley,Jim Gibbons,Ted Haggard,Don Haidl,Jeffrey Ray Nielsen,Jeffrey Patti,Brent Schepp,John Collins,John Gosek,Dr. W. David Hager,Russell Harding,Neal Horsley,Jeff Miller,Dennis L. Rader,Jeffrey Kyle Randall,Jean Schmidt,Mark Seidensticker,Don Sherwood,Fred C. Smeltzer,Jim Stelling,Bobby Stumbo,Jim West,Edison Misla Aldarondo,Paul Crouch,Richard A. Dasen Sr.,Peter Dibble,Jeff Gannon,Mike Hintz,Mark Pazuhanich,Donald Rumsfeld,Jack Ryan,Ed Schrock,David Swartz,Robin Vanderwall,John Allen Burt,Neil Bush,Richard A. Delgaudio,Jack W. Gardner,Philip Giordano,Rush Limbaugh,Pat McPherson,Brent Parker,Stephen White,Andrew Buhr,Richard Gardner,Howard Scott Heldreth,Tom Randall,Keith Westmoreland,Randal David Ankeney,Parker J. Bena,Kevin Coan,John Fund,Donald “Buzz” Lukens,Nicholas Morency,Larry Jack Schwarz,Tom Shortridge,Keola Childs,Matthew Glavin,Earl Kimmerling,George Roche III,Merrill Robert Barter,Dan Burton,Dan Crane,Helen Chenoweth,Henry Hyde,Mike Bowers,John Hathaway,I. Lewis Libby,Newt Gingrich,Beverly Russell,Jim Bunn,Ken Calvert,Jon Grunseth,Paul Ingram,Sue Myrick,Jim Bakker,Roy Cohn,John Scmitz,Robert Bauman,Ted Bundy,Strom Thurmond,Dick Armey,Bob Barr,John Bolton,Pat Buchanan,George W. Bush,John Butler,Charles Canady,Nicholas Elizondo,Thomas B. Evans,Rudy Giuliani,Marty Glickman,Mark A. Grethen,Mark Harris,Tim Hutchinson,Bernard Kerik,Bob Livingston,Bill O’Reilly,Bob Packwood,John Paulk,John Peterson,Harvey Pitt,Joe Scarborough,Dr. Laura Schlessinger,Arnold Schwarzenegger,Jimmy Swaggart,Randall Terry,Bill Thomas,J.C. Watts,