POLITICAL CRACK UPS

[Maggot]

The applause is deadening!!!

[HairOfTheDog]

Yep, Senator Yee is toast, Maggot. His political aspirations far exceed his ethics and talent, IMO.

Yee's unsuccessful run for mayor left him broke, which probably made it harder to keep successfully lobbying for California Sec of State candidacy. Solution: bribes, fraud, gun deals... Very corrupt hypocritical asshole.

The democratic party is really taking a hit in California. Earlier this year, Los Angeles county Senator Roderick Wright was charged with perjury and voter fraud, and Los Angeles county Senator Ron Calderon was charged with fraud for accepting $100k in political "gifts" (he's on leave of absence).



California democratic senators charged with corruption: Roderick Wright, Leland Yee, Ron Calderon.

Needless to say, the state republicans are having a field day. The corruption busts in California's democratic party are a huge gift for the GOP, especially in an election year.

Currently, both houses of the legislature here are controlled by the democrats. Won't be surprised a bit if that changes after the election. I hope so, I'd like to see a balance of power and more conservative strain in the mix (as long as the state congress doesn't pull the same shit as the US congress == refusing to get anything done, other than engage in pissing contests).

[Maggot]

Dems want an extention in unemployment bennies, Pubs wont sign it until a jobs bill is signed. Sounds fairly easy to accomplish.

[ZEROSPHERES]

The applause is deadening!!!

Correct response for the attendees at a wake witnessing the death of the US economy.

[HairOfTheDog]

Greasy Rizzo finally gets his due...



Former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo ^ was sentenced this morning to 12 years in state prison for his role in the Bell, California corruption scandal.

Rizzo, who was also ordered to pay $8.8 million in restitution, pleaded no contest in October to 69 counts, including misappropriation of public funds and perjury.

It was revealed in 2010 that Rizzo was giving himself an annual salary and benefits package of $1.5 million in the city where a quarter of the population lives below the federal poverty line. His $800,000 in wages alone was double that of the president of the United States.

For the first time since the scandal erupted four years ago, Rizzo made a public apology. “I breached the public’s confidence by starting to look at the position more towards myself than the community. I am very, very sorry for that.”

The 60-year-old is the accused ring leader of the Bell scandal, which inflated salaries of city administrators, ultimately costing taxpayers $15 million.

“He really let this economy, this commercial tax base, crumble over his 20 years in office and businesses moved out,” said city manager Doug Willmore, who added it could take five to eight years to recover.

Rizzo remains free on a $2.2 million bond and was ordered to surrender on May 30 to begin serving a 33-month federal prison term for tax evasion. He must also pay nearly $256,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service in that case.

Rizzo was ordered by a judge Monday to serve his sentence for tax evasion separately from his time in the corruption case.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/04/1...tion-case/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-c...on-scheme/

[HairOfTheDog]

Two more for the road...



Toronto Mayor Rob Ford now says he's packing his bags and heading for rehab. FOR REAL THIS TIME! He's taking a leave of absence (and still planning to run for re-election in October, AFAIK).

Remember how Rob's enabling mom and sister denied that he had substance abuse problems a few months back? Well, Rob's alleged realization that he needs help comes on the heels of a new video being acquired by The Globe and The Mail -- the video reportedly shows him smoking crack in his addict sister Kathy's basement last weekend.

But, that's not all. On Monday night, Rob got blotto, yet again, at a neighborhood bar and was outed on a radio station by a patron who'd recorded him bagging on his wife and yammering about how he wanted to fucking jam it to a mayoral contender, but the woman didn't want that (geez, wonder why not?).

Anyway, hope he's serious about pulling his shit together and succeeds. As it stands now, the guy's a melting mess (but absolute comedy gold for the pundits, meme makers and talk show hosts).

[HairOfTheDog]

^^^ Former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin was found guilty on 20 of the 21 Bribery and Fraud counts against him.

Sentencing has been set for June 11^th, which is Nagin's 58^th birthday. He faces a maximum of 20 years under federal sentencing guidelines.

UPDATE:

After a month's delay, Nagin's sentence was finally handed down today.

He got 10 years. It's not the 20 year max, but I think it's a fair sentence for political corruption and profiting off of a natural disaster -- more than some violent offenders get.

Nagin was alleged to have received roughly a half million dollars, all tolled, over 6 years.

What a greedy short-sighted dipshit. 10 years of his freedom down the drain for only a $500,000 payoff.

Anyway, he made no apologies at his sentencing. "I trust that God's going to work all this out," he said. Yeah, Ray, I think God just did.

[HairOfTheDog]

RICK PERRY INDICTED FOR ABUSE OF POWER


"Ahhhh shit. This is a politically-charged witch hunt by those darned Democrats, I tell ya!"

A grand jury in Texas indicted Gov. Rick Perry ( R) on Friday alleging abuse of power in office.

The Republican’s conservative allies fired right back with their own accusation: This is a witch hunt.

Perry, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, is accused of trying to coerce Rosemary Lehmberg (D), the district attorney for Travis County, who oversees an agency that investigates public corruption to resign after she was arrested on a drunken driving charge (HOTD: she was effin' shitfaced and driving with an open bottle of vodka when busted, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 45 days in jail).

Perry vetoed $7.5 million in state funding for her office when Lehmberg refused to resign, saying that he could not provide the money “when the person charged with ultimate responsibility of that unit has lost the public’s confidence.”

One charge Perry was indicted on, abuse of official capacity, is a first-degree felony that could carry from five to 99 years in prison; a second charge, coercion of a public servant, is a third-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 10 years, according to The Associated Press.

The indictment is a blow to Perry just as he’s trying to rehabilitate his image after a disastrous 2012 presidential run. But he also is the third major potential White House candidate on the Republican side — the others being Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin — to face legal problems at a time when no clear GOP standard-bearer has appeared in the run-up to 2016.

How much support Perry — who is considered a long shot for the White House (in 2016) — gets from fellow Republicans in the long run may depend on whether he’s convicted, and it’s unclear when a trial would be held. And privately, several Republican strategists predicted a rough road for a presidential candidate under indictment.

Sources:
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/ri...z3AmVKPDNM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/t...story.html
-----------------------------------------------------

This makes Perry the first sitting Texas governor to be indicted in 100 years.

Some legal analysts say he could be in hot water; others say the charges are sketchy at best.

Perry has been governor of Texas for 14 years -- he holds the record. He announced earlier this year that he will not be seeking re-election in 2014.

[Maggot]

Just think if he WAS president this thing would not even matter he could just say he only heard about it watching TV one night.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't know, Maggot.

Obama IS the president and is currently facing a lawsuit by the House Speaker for over-reaching his power, along with being threatened with impeachment for essentially the same allegation by Tea Partyers and Republicans.

[Maggot]

I don't know, Maggot.

Obama IS the president and is currently facing a lawsuit by the House Speaker for over-reaching his power, along with being threatened with impeachment for essentially the same allegation by Tea Partyers and Republicans.

The Democrats are fueling the impeachment proceedings they have been pushing it as a Republican agenda when in fact it has been brought up over 80 times by the Dems and about 6 times by the pubs. That may be a first in politics. Campaigning on their president getting impeached.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't know, Maggot.

Obama IS the president and is currently facing a lawsuit by the House Speaker for over-reaching his power, along with being threatened with impeachment for essentially the same allegation by Tea Partyers and Republicans.

The Democrats are fueling the impeachment proceedings they have been pushing it as a Republican agenda when in fact it has been brought up over 80 times by the Dems and about 6 times by the pubs. That may be a first in politics. Campaigning on their president getting impeached.

From what I've been seeing, you're right about the Democrats being the ones most frequently bringing up the impeachment threat; the one that Sarah Palin went all over the media advocating a couple of months back (with support from some Republicans and Tea Party members, and objections from others).

Once a segment of the right so vigorously pushed the impeachment rhetoric to the public, Obama and the Democrats latched on to it and exploited it for their own strategic gain. They want to keep it in the public's mind until the November congressional elections. Obama ain't getting impeached and it just makes the right look like petty partisan putzes to voters at a time when the GOP is already dealing with major image problems. Democrats aren't campaigning for impeachment -- they're rubbing some noses in the threat of it because, in their opinions, that threat works against the Republicans and in favor of the Democrats. That's my take anyway.

The lawsuit filed by Boehner, on the other hand, is indeed a campaign supported widely by the Republican Party; it was authorized by the House and Boehner's been banging on about it for some time. I don't think it will go anywhere though.

[HairOfTheDog]

RICK PERRY -- WORKING IT

Texas governor Rick Perry voluntarily showed up for his booking yesterday following last week's grand jury indictment for abuse of power.

He took the opportunity to stick to his guns, defend his position, and hold a sort of campaign press conference outside of the courthouse. I think that was smart.



After Rosemary Lehmberg's DUI, Perry was very open and public about vetoing funding for her Public Corruption Unit in his attempt to force her outta office. She initially denied driving drunk, but failed to complete field sobriety tests and tested at 3x the legal driving limit.

I think Perry overreached his veto authority in cutting off funding for her Public Corruption Unit in his attempt to oust the DA. Rosemary Lehmberg was an elected official. If she was removed from office, he, as governor, would have been chartered to select her replacement for the powerful position of Travis County DA and head of the Public Corruption Unit. There is no law mandating a DA to leave office following a misdemeanor conviction and she did serve her 45 days and lost her license.

Still, Rick Perry was far from alone in wanting her out and all of this is just calling even more attention to Lehmberg's asinine behavior which got her arrested, restrained, and put on the political firing line in the first place. The dashcam videos of her DUI stop and antics at the holding cell were shown all over Texas news (they're all over youtube too). I agree with Perry that she lost a lot of credibility.

IDK. It would have made more sense for his critics to push for impeachment or his resignation, or for Lehmberg to file a civil discrimination suit against him, IMO -- if he wasn't leaving office at the end of the year anyway. I think she should have just done nothing, personally. This looks like a pissing contest to me. But, a grand jury did see fit to hand down a criminal indictment, so who knows?

If I had to bet who'd come out on top based on their mugshots alone, I'd put my money on Rick Perry hands down. MUGSHOTS:


Anyway, interested to see if Perry actually turns this lemon into lemonade or if it winds up souring his potential to launch a 2016 presidential bid.

[Maggot]

There are way to many politicians changing views to the tide of public opinion. I say if it right stick to your guns and defend the position till the end. If anything it shows integrity and grit.

[Duchess]

I watched video of her from the night of her arrest. She acted like white trash. She needs to lose her position if only for attempting to throw her weight around. She tried to use her position and she threatened people. Fuck her.

[HairOfTheDog]

Political Round-Up


Canada: ^ Toronto mayor Rob Ford (left) was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer last month and won't be seeking re-election after all. He's in treatment. He's endorsing his brother, Councillor Doug Ford (right) for mayor.


US: ^ Eric Holder (right), US Attorney General, announced his resignation last week. It was not a big surprise; he'd initially pledged to serve six years if Obama was elected to two terms.

Holder will step down by the end of 2014; finding someone who can work with Republicans for the last half of Obama's second term probably won't be easy. Holder has been characterized by some as law-breaking in overreaching his power and too racially-focused/ biased. Others characterize him as the leader who's done the most to advance civil rights in recent history. He's definitely been a love 'em or hate 'em leader for most.


US: ^ Mitt Romney (left) says he'd make a much better US President than Hillary Clinton (center). I'm not sure if he'll run again in 2016, but seems he's might be headed in that direction. The GOP doesn't appear to have a strong candidate that could beat Clinton. Massachusetts Senator and former Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren (right) has some strong support within the Democratic Party, but pundits don't expect that she could trounce a Republican candidate in the same way that they predict Hillary would.


Hong Kong: ^ Hong Kong remains embroiled in massive public protests. The protestors are demanding that Chief Executive C.Y. Leung resign. Their beef is that he hasn't made good on reform promises issued when China assumed control of Hong Kong in 1997, that he's a Beijing puppet, and that he's completely out of touch with the Hong Kongese.

I think Leung's days are numbered, but he's refusing to step down at this time.

[Cheyne]

Rob Ford has Liposarcoma, with a survival rate of 56-100% at 5 years. Even though he is a controversial figure, I am sad to see him diagnosed with this disease.

And that pic of Hilary? Damn she looks old, my mother is 70 and looks 10 years younger than Hilary! Hasn't Hilary had some "work" done recently?

[username]

If Mitt Romney gets the republican nomination for president again, I'll throw myself in front of a damn bus. He is so done.

[Duchess]

The Republicans don't have anyone that is capable of taking on Hillary and winning. She'll announce her intention to run by the first of the year.

[HairOfTheDog]

The Republicans don't have anyone that is capable of taking on Hillary and winning. She'll announce her intention to run by the first of the year.

She's busy these days.

Politico is reporting that Mrs. Clinton will be on the road helping to get Democratic Senators elected in the November congressional elections. She'll be in Iowa, Kentucky, Colorado, Georgia, and North Carolina.

The political polls show its a very tight race for control of the now Democratically-held Senate -- anybody's guess at this point whether the Democrats will hold onto the majority or the Republicans will instead assume majority position after November.

If Hillary runs in 2016 and gets elected, it'll be very interesting if she winds up walking into a situation where both the House and Senate are Republican-dominated. Congress might actually get something done with fewer partisan pissing matches between the two branches. But, unless Hillary is better received by Republicans than Obama, it could be very challenging for her in her first term as President.