Like clockwork, I get in the car for the 6 hour drive from Ithaca to Rhode Island, and news hits the fan.
This time, the revelation that the White House enlisted Bill Clinton to do the dirty work of getting Joe Sestak to drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary in exchange for a position on a presidential board.
My first impressions:
- Whatever his prior accomplishments, Sestak is not ready for prime time. He made unequivocal statements that he was offered a job, but now is equivocating and expressing surprise that it’s a big deal. Did he not listen to television or read the papers prior to today? Why didn’t he set the record straight. I just viewed Sestak’s press conference, and it is clear that he viewed the offer as an offer, yet still refuses to see the significance.
- The Obama administration memo supposedly vindicating the administration actually should be Exhibit A in a criminal case, because the White House admits to the offer and that it was for the purpose of convincing Sestak to withdraw.
- How telling (there’s a better word, I just can’t think of it right now) that this White House got Bill Clinton involved.
- How convenient the White House stalled until the Friday before a holiday weekend.
- This White House is Nixonian in its Clintonian ability to parse words.
- There likely was a crime committed here, and Republicans should not let this drop.
- Eric Holder should appoint a special prosecutor, particularly since his former boss and his present boss are subjects of the investigation.
- The “rule of law” is the last thing this administration thinks about.
I’ll have more. For sure.
——————————————–
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
oh, come on, you have to give me some credit. i was calling it before anyone. this memo is a confession of a crime, not an exhoneration.
Seriously unless there is case law seriously mangling the statute, they have committed a crime.
Tweetastic! "This White House is Nixonian in its Clintonian ability to parse words."
Hopeandchange! "There likely was a crime committed here, and Republicans should not let this drop."
This all stinks to high heaven. How did Clinton get dragged into this, are they hoping his charm and ability to wriggle out of his trous, er, out of sticky situat, um, well, you know something not dirty-minded will rub off on them? Not on the likely. Clinton was popular with indies, still is, but BO . . . not so much. This won't help. People will just be scratching their heads wondering why a former president would call, obviously on behalf of the sitting president, some still wet behind the ears (he was elected to that position in 2007) member of the House. To offer him a non-job making non-money doing non-things. Uh huh.
Ummm, it's rather notable that you don't state what law was actually broken. Maybe you should cite the specific statute, how it applies and how this was different from any other bit of political horse trading.
You have to hand it to him. For a guy who wrote a book about audacity, he sure is delivering it in spades. Who else would call in BJ Clinton to shore up his credibility while providing an incriminating letter that proves the crime?
It's kind of like a repertory theater troupe that only has three actors to perform the roles of twenty characters in the same play. It just doesn't work when Iago looks like the third witch who also looks like Rosencrantz among others. Only Monty Python can make that work.
dgp, if you want the specific laws broken, check out Michelle Malkin's post today:
http://michellemalkin.com/2010/05/28/why-did-the-white-house-contact-joe-sestaks-brother/
Click on "indirectly" towards the end for the link to the specific law and language making this a crime.
# There likely was a crime committed here, and Republicans should not let this drop.
This is the key – hammer this theme every day.
" – The Obama administration memo supposedly vindicating the administration actually should be Exhibit A in a criminal case, because the White House admits to the offer and that it was for the purpose of convincing Sestak to withdraw.
– This White House is Nixonian in its Clintonian ability to parse words.
– The "rule of law" is the last thing this administration thinks about."
These are my favorites!! "Nixonian in its Clintonian" – classic!! Priceless!!
They admitted to a crime – and Rahm is the person on the memo as liable "indirectly" – and Clinton directly, all under the WH direction! The unanswered question….could Rahmbo make a call on this without the president being informed, approving?
Too bad they did not insist that ALL White House conversations were recorded since Nixon. What we would learn if these conversations were taped.
Hmmmmm…..wonder if the CIA or Secret Service has these on file? Hmmmm….. FOIA would never release them…..but it is lovely to think on. 😉
I wonder at what point Obama realizes that Rahm Emmanuel is a liability. And why is that every administration, every single one, never figures out that nothing stays a secret. This particular group is especially inept. Even with the advantage of a submissive adoring press, this administration just keeps fumbling and bumbling around doing dumb stuff that's easily uncovered and makes them look stupid and corrupt in such an obvious way that even their buddies in the media are forced to cover it.
the law in question is 18 usc 600. And it bans pretty much exactly this.
It's an embarrassment to Obama and an insult to the American people that after several months of stonewalling, this farcical fantasy that stinks worse than a 3 day old dead fish is what they want us to believe is the truth of what went down.
If anybody in the media besides Fox does its job and covers this story, Obama and Sestak are going to take poltical hits and the legacy of Mr. "I did not have sexual relations with that woman", who was disbarred for lying, will be further damaged.
Obama screws Clinton again should be the title of the story, with the subtitle "again".
I think about now all Bubba is thinking about is revenge. He must look like Private Pile sitting in the latrine a al Full Metal Jacket!
Good discussion on Fox. Steve Hayes pointed out that Sestak said that the position was a "high level administrative position". Now, the Obama administration says it was a unpaid panel position. Give up a senate bid for some committee seat??? A committee seat is a high level administrative position??? Give me a break.
Apparently this Administration still believes that the "truth" is whatever they decide it is.
Agree that the R's and moderate D's who hope to keep their seats need to be relentless in pursuing this.
"This White House is Nixonian in its Clintonian ability to parse words." Best line of the year so far, hands down!
Definitely admission of guilt. Mark Levin's 1st hour on this from Friday night is a must-listen – he covers the law, the legal angles, the lying and cover-up, the Sestak as incompetent angle, the "it's not a crime if the position was uncompensated" spin, the "everyone does this" spin, and basically the soup-to-nuts of this. What is so obvious to me is this is Chicago politics as usual being played in D.C. in a totally different environment. They either didn't think this was illegal or they are so used to doing business this way they never thought twice about it.
Which brings up the question of whether Clinton was involved at all or if this is a very elaborate and not clever cover-up after the fact. Because if it was NOT a crime as the regime contends, why involve Bubba? The only reason to involve him is to make the point man with Sestak someone outside the regime to supposedly insulate the regime. Except that Bubba is not only a serial liar and perjurer, but there is no earthly way he had the knowledge or imprimatur to offer either a high level position in the regime or an uncompensated panel position. They either knew it was a crime and used Bubba, or they thought it was not a crime, never thought about it, and are lying about using Bubba. None of this works any way the regime and Sestak are now spinning it.
I tend to believe they have always operated this way, have possibly done it numerous times just in the past 16 months in office, thought it was no big deal and the Clinton story is false. If so, one wonders what Clinton was promised to allow his name to be used by the regime this way.
Republicans absolutely have to stay on this and do a thorough investigation when they are back in power, and the new media must hammer away at it until then. Further, not only Emanuel but Holder as well are likely now into it up to their eyeballs – crime, cover-up, or both. Both are criminals in my book, but then this entire regime is.