Random Thoughts on Other Notable Headlines of the Day — Issue XXX

June 28, 2009 v

FEC Democrats Vote To Fine California Democrat, But Republicans Block Vote

In 2006 Arjinderpal Sekhon ran for Congress in California’s 2^nd district under a Democratic ticket. He lost the election. It was later revealed that he violated several election laws during his campaign. The Federal Elections Commission investigated the matter and Sekhon agreed to pay fines for the violations. However, the three Republicans on the FEC commission blocked the fines and nothing has been done about Sekhon’s case. Two Democrats on the FEC were so upset with the Republicans that they issued a statement saying “this may be the most inexplicable resolution of a Matter Under Review that we have seen during our combined tenures on the Commission”.

The editorial by The Washington Post says “the three Republican appointees are turning the commission into The Little Agency That Wouldn’t: wouldn’t launch investigations, wouldn’t bring cases, wouldn’t even accept settlements that the staff had already negotiated. This is not a matter of partisan politics. These commissioners simply appear not to believe in the law they have been entrusted with enforcing”. One might understand this action concerning Sekhon if he were a Republican. But you have to ask what their motive was in this case.

Why is Representative Murtha Not In Jail?

Earlier this month another editorial by The Washington Post, Eye-Opening Earmarks, tells us more on the immoral, corrupt, and illegal life of Pennsylvania Representative John P. Murtha. This all centers around his relationship with the PMA lobbying firm that Murtha’s nephew was connected with. Two other Democratic Representatives, Peter J. Visclosky and Jim Moran, are also linked to the PMA group. Supposedly there is an ongoing investigation into Murtha and the others.

This issue with Murtha just can’t seem to get out of the gate. Occasionally someone files a report on this, such as the editorial by the Post, but other than that, there is little said on the matter short of an occasional acknowledgement. Even the quite from the Republicans is deafening. There’s no question that every lawmaker in Washington could be in Murtha’s shoes, albeit maybe not as glaring, so that’s probably the reason. And we-the-public seem to be more interested in the extramarital affairs of our politicians than we are in their illegal and corrupt ways. Or maybe the former is just more sensational and the latter has just become an accepted way of life. If so, then we certainly have our priorities out of line. But, then again, sensationalism, not matters of importance, is priority number one in today’s media.

Should Dick Cheney’s Valerie Plame Connection Be Made Public?

“U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan expressed surprise during a hearing here that the Justice Department, in asserting that Cheney’s voluntary statements to U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald were exempt from disclosure, relied on legal claims put forward last October by a Bush administration political appointee, Stephen Bradbury. The department asserted then that the disclosure would make presidents and vice presidents reluctant to cooperate voluntarily with future criminal investigations” – from this Washington Post article.

Here’s the real futuristic problem — if it is not released, future Presidents and Vice-Presidents will take their law-breaking to the next level. Dick Cheney has already proven that. He was a law-breaker of the highest level since Richard Nixon. Not just on the Plame case, but many other issues. Had the same analogy been used with Richard Nixon, future Presidents and Presidential candidates would have had a field day breaking into their opponent’s offices and headquarters to gain information they could use to discredit their opponents and win elections. (Of course, it was the news media that exposed Nixon.) While I understand certain justifications to not release information, this is not one of them. To claim confidentially simply because talk and comedy shows will have new fodder is very, very weak. And if future Presidents and Vice-Presidents refuse to “cooperate voluntarily with future criminal investigations”, then America does not need those kinds of people running our country.

Where’s The Swine Flu Critics Now?

When the swine flue was found in only a hand full of American citizens and a couple of dozen of people in foreign countries, the news media and “experts” were going wild with criticism of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This week USAToday said the CDC reported that as many as 1 million Americans are estimated to now have the new swine flue. 28,000 cases have been reported here in our country, which the article says is nearly half of the worlds reported cases.

So if only 8 cases on April 24^th caused a 3-day outbreak of constant news reporting from every source, why doesn’t this gain the same interest? Simple — they’d have to face up to their ‘idoticy’ from denying earlier that a pandemic possibility exists, and those “experts” they were flaunting in front of us to “confirm” their reporting are in hiding. So no sensationalism and controversy to exploit.

If you would like to see a great world graphic of where the flu is concentrated, go to this site. While there, don’t forget to click on the “U.S. time lapse” tab and use the slider bar at the bottom to go back to the start of the first cases reported.