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FEATURE
Pundit Pap
for Sunday May 10th 1998
Dan Burton Activates His Auto-Destruct Sequence
NEW YORK -- Monday, May 11, 1998 -- Democrats couldn't have been more pleased with their performances on the Sunday poli-talk circuit in which both barrels were locked, loaded and fired at Hoosier Hooligan Dan Burton, the abusive loose cannon chairing the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. They also aimed withering fire at the GOP in general, successfully labeling them "the party of investigation over legislation."
The only things that might have pleased them more were the completely embarrassing appearances of right-wing dirty trickster David Bossie, fired last week as chief investigator for Comrade Burton's committee, and the chairman himself, looking simultaneously unrepentant and foolish.
Now, onto the second week of double Burton meltdown pap:
Fox News Sunday
Tony Snow dived headfirst into the pap, proclaiming that "partisan fighting rose to a fever pitch." After the news update segment, Snow introduced his first guest, Congressman John Conyers (D-MI). Tony asked -- and Conyers confirmed -- that Conyers had sent a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno outlining possible collusion between Dan Burton's investigation and Ken Starr's office and asking her to investigate -- something Conyers claimed "she hasn't been doing much of lately."
Don't discount the possibility, John -- she may well be investigating a number of missteps by Starr and his staff.
Tony said Burton claimed he was not in collusion with the (so-called) Independent Counsel -- without mentioning allegations that Bossie provided Starr's office with the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee database -- and asked Conyers if he thought Burton was being truthful. Conyers' one-word reply: "no." He explained that his key concern was that the doctored tape transcripts were released mere hours before Hubbell was indicted -- and that it looked to be "more than a tipoff... maybe they were working together.
Conyers missed an opportunity to point out that this is not the first time that Starr has "lucked out" owing to serendipitous timing.
Tony then asked a completely inane question: Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) fought the tapes' release was he tipped off?
If he was, Tony, you can bet the tip came from somebody who heard it from Burton's or Bossie's staff.
Brit Hume hit on one of the major Clinton-bashing themes of the week: "What exactly did Webster Hubbell mean by 'rolling over again?' "
We have an idea, Brit -- if you want a real scoop, why don't you get Webb on Fox News Sunday and ask him yourself? The worst he could do is refuse to answer it under advice of counsel, and you could spin that until the (second) Gore inauguration!
Conyers' comeback: "I don't know. What do you think it meant?"
Brit just looked peeved. he doesn't like guests who are more sarcastic than he is -- it's the second week in a row he's been verbally "bitch-slapped" by a Democrat from the House. That we don't mind, but Brit is sounding even less incisive than Sam Donaldson these days, and his constant bluntness regarding hard right "theme of the week" questions is getting tired fast.
Memo to Tony: bring back Tucker Carlson. Soon. And often.
Tony was a little more subtle than Brit. Conservatives have been shrieking all week that the Democrats have been "lying " about "altered tapes." Tony's question: "Do you think the tapes were doctored?"
Conyers: "I haven't heard the tapes... but the transcripts were altered." A pretty accurate assessment -- truncation to slant statements and replacing interjections with incriminating words pretty much constitutes altering the meaning, context and content of the conversations.
Tony then tried raising a few waves: "You said Janet Reno isn't doing her job -- should she be fired?"
Conyers emphatically said NO, then added: "If she should be, I'd be the first to tell her."
And there is no reason for her to be fired. Reno has been very patient in dealing with Burton and Starr, and it would make no sense for her to act unless she has an airtight case. If she rushed in, she'd look as foolish as Burton. His claims about a vast "Red Chinese" (make that Green Chinese, Dan -- they want a market economy even more than you do!!) conspiracy are almost as ridiculous as the assertion he's bought into that
Vincent Foster was "murdered" by Bill and Hillary Clinton. He must believe everything he hears from David Bossie, including all the uncorroborated slop that got disproven later. Reno, on the other hand, is a real law enforcement executive, and she deserves the benefit of methodical, professional investigation.
Tony then asked if Conyers thought Hubbell "got paid off." Conyers' rejoinder: "Paid off by whom?... Nobody's made that allegation -- are you saying that's your view... how should I know?" Conyers lost his footing on this one, and should have followed up on Snow's "there have been allegations in the press" by saying that that is exactly what they are -- allegations! Companies often trample each other when a former high-ranking government official becomes available as a private sector consultant. Is it really any surprise that Hubbell was offered all of these consulting opportunities?
Tony then asked Conyers if he felt the GOP had "pre-judged" Clinton; Conyers replied that Burton had pre-judged Clinton and added "I want to know if Chairman Burton or Speaker Gingrich coordinated anything with the Independent Council -- then is against the law!"
Tony then turned to his second guest -- none other than Chairman Burton himself! Tony's first question: "Has your staff had any contact" with Starr's office?
Burton replied he had been in contact with Starr's office a long time ago, so that he would "not step on his feet." He added that his committee can turn over evidence of crime to law enforcement agencies and stated unequivocally that "Starr has given us nothing." But Burton failed to confront the question directly, choosing instead to mention contact he had had a long time ago. He sidestepped the issue whether there's been any recent contact.
Tony then repeated Conyers' claim that Burton's staff had foreknowledge of an indictment of Webster Hubbell. Burton denied this outright, adding that "it takes all long time to sift through one hundred fifty hours" of tape recordings. The fact is, the two situations are mutually exclusive, as Burton continues to make ridiculous excuses for his own abusive behavior.
He then followed up with the official "spin" that he and his cronies are applying to the issue of release of doctored information to the press: that "it wasn't a transcript, it was a log" of tape contents.
This has to be about the most ridiculous spin we have heard in the last year! They were given to the press AS transcripts IN transcript form.
The more the man says, the more foolish he looks! When Tony asked Burton if he knew that an indictment was coming, Burton replied "I read it in the paper," again sidestepping the question with the deftness of an elephant on mescaline.
Brit asked Burton why David Bossie got fired. Burton said "David resigned."
It was at about this point that Burton started to sound more flustered than blustery. It seems to be dawning on him at last that even conservatives are not taking his constant evasion of the issues concerning his conduct and stupidity seriously.
When Hume said that "[Bossie] said he was fired," Burton stated that he had a resignation letter; when Tony repeated to Burton reports that Newt Gingrich wants all investigations "run through his office," Burton denied it, saying "in fact, last week, when I talked to him personally, he indicated full support for our committee and our investigation."
Then, in a trademark Burton nonsequitur, he went on a jag about Hubbell saying he'd have to "roll over one more time," a statement which only reminds us that Burton and Bossie set up the release of what they call "logs" to take the full statements out of context and embarrass the Clintons.
But look at the bright side -- Burton is just doing his part to ensure a Democrat majority in the House this November, with the "full confidence" of the demented Speaker. No wonder Democrats love these two!
When the subject turned to the issue of more hearings, Burton said "We have investigators all over the place... South America [read: Bossie's goofball sources are somehow going to vaguely tie Colombian drug cash to our political enemies]... hearings will continue."
Tony asked if Burton would be willing to make changes to allow four witnesses to be immunized against prosecution -- a not-so-subtle allusion to calls for Burton to step aside. Burton tried to excuse his conduct by claiming "attacks on Chairman Fred Thompson" and a litany of other Republican committee chairmen -- completely shifting the topic away from his own abuse and partisanship.
Tony concluded by asking if China would be the focus of his remaining hearings; Burton replied by saying would link a Chinese cigarette importer to efforts by the Chinese to "influence" the DNC -- once again flogging the "Commie Yellow Peril" issue.
Burton fails to grasp that China is on the road to open markets and looks more to the trade-friendly Democrats than the Republicans, who came across as xenophobes before current the wave of campaign allegations and have only looked worse since.
The two succeeding segments were mostly a bore. Stuart "Odie Colognie" Taylor of National Journal, a pundit who made a spectacle of himself by trying to get a job with Team Starr, defended his would-be boss against allegations of leaks when Juan Williams confronted him on the issue of leaks from the Starr office.
Taylor, in predictably sycophantic manner, said "This time I actually checked into this... not only has Fox, who originally broke the story, denied there was a leak from Starr's office, I have a source who says that it was a leak from the White House."
Consider the man speaking: a "journalist" too close to Starr for comfort to be a disinterested analyst on the subject -- not to mention the fact that Taylor is widely speculated to be a leak source himself!
The segment on "Trash TV -- Harmless Entertainment Or a Danger to Our Culture" was completely inane and a waste of time -- and a bit ironic, considering that Fox is not exactly the "Tiffany" network (for that matter, neither is CBS). The guests, super-right-wing "values cop" Alan Keyes and talk show host Richard Bey, blew plenty of hot air -- but Bey sounded like a moron when he attacked Barbara Walters' program "The View" for its language and subject matter -- while ignoring the fact that the program has a reputation for dealing thoroughly with women's issues, especially health and social issues, and has little in the way of content that would hold the attention of grade- or middle school kids.
The segment also attacked the programming while neglecting the issue of parental control. Parents are the final arbiters of what kids watch, and if they're lax about letting the kids watch Jerry Springer, don't blame Jerry.
Tony couldn't resist dipping into the mailbag, reading four letters about the Barney Frank donnybrook of last week. The first two letters were adamantly pro-Tony-and-Fox, but the latter two lit into the preferential treatment Tony and Brit gave to Congressman Bob Barr (R-Twilight Zone). Tony's comment: "We obviously hit a nerve with the interview - GOOD!!" We still think Tony and Brit were rude to Frank, but helped make Barr look as "out there" as he really is!
The roundtable was a snore, with talk about the overrated, self-important radio evangelist James Dobson. Dobson, along with his fringe-interest group Focus on the Family, seems to be garnering far too much attention by the press -- primarily for his recent attempts to exert pressure on the GOP to turn back to the hard right. There was also discussion of Sid Blumenthal's apology for calling Starr lieutenant Hickman Ewing a "religious extremist" -- even though he is -- when Mara Liasson mentioned that "President Clinton is a church-going, religious man."
Does it strike anyone out there as odd that aside from showing Clinton going to and leaving Sunday church services, the print and television press seem to go out of their way to point this out? Perhaps it does not square with his "image" as a womanizer.
The McLaughlin Group
McLaughlin focused fist on the Daimler-Benz merger with Chrysler Corporation. The new company, "Daimler-Chrysler," will be run from both US and German headquarters. Pat Buchanan said is was good for shareholders, but that we are losing a priceless national asset. Eleanor Clift said the answer to any problems with this merger is stronger unions and stronger government watchdogging. She also told Buchanan, who was caught in the family Mercedes and chided for it, "You were ahead of your time. Michael Barone, the bore from The Wall Street Journal -- mouthpiece of the GOP -- agreed with David Gergen that the merger is good for America. Buchanan was worried that when the new company slashes workers, the First World worker will go first. McLaughlin said the big winner was Kirk Kerkorian of Los Angeles, who made a billion dollars in one day on his Chrysler holdings.
The Group then turned to Dan Burton. Barone looked pretty silly defending Burton's release of the Hubbell tapes and saying that nothing Hubbell said was exculpatory since he knew the tape was rolling. Of course, this is a stupid comment because then one must believe that Hubbell's "rollover" remark could not have been about protecting the First Lady, and in any event was untrue as well.
The "rollover remark" was, by the way, an obvious reference to Hubbell's regret that he could not come forward to sue the Rose Law Firm for certain of its members -- EXCLUDING Hillary Clinton -- engaging in a wide conspiracy to overbill clients. Hubbell wanted to sue on the issue and recover some of his losses, but did not, so that Rose "dirt" would not somehow be used by Republicans to smear mud on Hillary Clinton -- even though she was not involved in overbilling (that is, if anyone at Rose indeed was).
Most of the group said that fired Burton aide David Bossie was a "fall guy."
That's a joke!
Bossie has been earning his living for years as a Clinton witch-hunter. This time, he got caught. True, he was fall guy in one way: Burton tried to use him as a sacrifice to save his chairmanship. Of course, Burton only underlined his own stupidity with this tactic. He should have known that Democrats want him to remain as Chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. Why? Because he is so inept that Democrats can make his entire investigation look like a psychodrama as long as he remains the Committee's chair. If, for some reason, a serious and respected GOP House member took over, Democrats would have a rougher go. Minority leader Gephardt looked foolish calling for the resignation of Burton and then -- almost in the same sentence -- realizing his mistake and saying he would like to keep Burton in "as long as he does a fair job."
That's why Gephardt will never be presidential fodder.
McLaughlin then turned to Newt Gingrich's return to evil last week. The consensus was that Newt was pandering to the ultra-right to raise money and gain back waning support from right wing Christian Fundamentalists who have threatened to leave the GOP fortress.
The Group then moved to McLaughlin's favorite topic -- international relations. This week the topic was Israeli-Palestinian relations. Israel's Netanyahu will not grant the Palestinians the territory and economic elasticity that the White House might want. This has enabled the Republicans to become the Party for Israel and attack the Clintons for abandoning Israel. The atmosphere was made worse for the President when the First Lady was quoted as feeling that the Palestinians deserved more than Netanyahu was willing to give -- although not in those words. "I think that it will be in the long term interest of the Middle East for Palestine to become a state... ," she said. This sent shockwaves through Israel and caused American Jews to flee the Clinton court in droves.
McLaughlin congratulated the First Lady and the President and said they were "Right on the mark." Barone says that Palestine should get rid of the clause in their charter that says "Israel should no longer exist." Barone is partially correct -- however, the fact that the Palestinians continue Arafat-backed attacks on Israeli citizens to extort peace from Israel is really the issue. Until Arafat controls his own people, the problem will not be solved. Everyone knows it.
Meet the Press
Dick Gephardt was the first guest of Tim Russert. Russert read a Gephardt quote to open: "The Speaker is not big enough to take the steps needed to restore American's confidence in the investigative process."
Gephardt, suffering with a cold, remarked that the Speaker is disqualifying himself by reaching conclusions before the facts are in. "We have a constitutional duty to carry out fair and impartial impeachment hearings," muttered Gephardt.
What a ditz. One would never hear the word "impeachment" from any Democrat but Gephardt -- yet another sign of his unreadiness to run for the Oval Office.
Gephardt made another gaffe when Russert asked him which Republican should take over the Clinton investigation. He should have said that any investigation of the White House should never be a partisan matter and should have suggested a bipartisan solution. But now, like a mouse, he suggested Henry Hyde, a much-respected Republican senior member, to take over.
Russert asked Gephardt about his asking Burton to step down. He said, again, that Burton could stay if he did a fair job. "I think Dan Burton has disqualified himself from Chairing the Committee," he then went on -- correcting himself again. Gephardt said the attorney general would have been put in jail if she had released those tapes. He also said that "The President deserves the benefit of the doubt," rather than defending the President's integrity. He added that "we have to stop the endless and very expensive investigation of the President."
Russert then made his usual anti-Clinton move, saying the investigation cannot end because the President exerted executive privilege. Of course, the White House did this to preserve this right and the Office -- not to protect the President personally. It is unlikely that any of the witnesses Starr called would testify in the negative for the President. Obvious, isn't it?
Russert then asked one of his favorite dumb questions "Why doesn't the President urge Susan McDougal to testify as Ken Starr has asked?"
Duh, Tim!
This is typical Russert. Tim knows that even if Clinton asked, McDougal wouldn't. And why would he ask a convicted felon to do something for him? A loaded question and one not acknowledged. Russert followed by asking whether the President would testify under oath. Gephardt thought he would if asked. "He's done it on many occasions." said Gephardt.
Russert then threw his fifth whammy: "The president's approval ratings are 65%, but few people respect him. What does this mean?." he asked. What is means, Tim, is that you and your colleagues have engaged in a non-stop year-long crusade to besmirch the Clinton's character. And it has worked. The people are confused. They like Bill Clinton, but they hear you telling them he is guilty of all the charges brought against him and yet unproved -- not a single one.
When Russert is against the wall on this he always brings up Ms. Flowers, who Bill Clinton denied having a fling with more than half a decade ago. It turns out that they did have something and the President admitted this. What did Russert expect him to do, admit the Flowers thing on national television before he worked out the problem with his wife?
Russert moved to David Bossie, who he said may have provided Kenneth Starr with the Burton Committee data base -- in violation of congressional policy (and the law) and the division between legislative and judicial matters.
Russert finally moved away from Clinton -- talking instead about Gingrich's remarks that the surplus is so big that at least half should be used for tax cuts.
Gephardt said he'd like to make certain that Social Security and education were also important.
Tom DeLay was on to represent the Republicans.
Chuckle.
Sure, Tom "The Exterminator" DeLay is the House Majority Whip -- but he is a dirty representative of the GOP and the worst man to show that the Republican party is actually full of good-minded fellows. DeLay reacted to Democrats hunting Burton's head with the latest ultra-right GOP line that the "Democrats attack everyone, Burton, Thompson, D'Amato..." -- and the list goes on. Russert asked why Republicans cannot work with Democrats. Delay pretended he didn't know what Russert was talking about. He looked like a vacuum head. The only thing DeLay is capable of is launching into yet another used-up tirade: "92 people have either fled the country or taken the fifth…"
Oh brother.
Wouldn't you? Once people saw that the GOP had no intention of doing much but trying to indict Democrat givers using Starr and other Republican operatives, it was amazing that half of Washington didn't head for the Caymans.
The truth is that Burton has unlimited subpoena power and refuses to consult Democrats on anything.
You'd plead the fifth as well.
DeLay, of course, blames the media for picking up on Democrat spin. "They are trying to change the subject.."
"We were not allowed to listen to all the tapes -- only the tapes that corresponded to the transcripts," scolded Russert in the first pro-Democrat move we've seen from him in what seems like a decade.
Russert chided Gingrich and DeLay for speaking harshly because they might be "pandering to the Christian right."
DeLay stammered something unintelligible.
Russert showed a tape of Martin Frost, a strong Democratic congressman and Democrat spokesperson saying "Every day I see Newt Gingrich on television I rejoice." DeLay says, ridiculously, that the Democrats are wild because they are losing power. We laughed out loud at this whiny retort! The reverse is what really is happening in the off cycle election trenches. For the first time in six years, the Democrats smell a majority in the House and are raising more money than Republicans.
"We are going to continue these investigations," said DeLay. He also said he hoped Starr's report would come soon.
The most ridiculous thing DeLay said was, " The Speaker tells the truth, he always told the truth..."
Now that's really something, Tom -- the only Speaker in history found guilty of knowingly lying to Congress, laundering funds through non-profits and charged with over 70 counts of fraud, misfeasance and other malfeasance -- and paying $300,000 for the privilege of not being indicted (as yet, at least) --- and he "always tells the truth."
DeLay must be joking.
Or DeLay must be as big a liar as Gingrich.
We vote for the second.
Russert brought on Mark Geragos -- the attorney for Susan McDougal. He asked him if his client would say that Clinton told the truth all along. Geragos said that was exactly what she would say.
No wonder Starr wants to keep her in jail and away from the Grand Jury.
Geragos told Russert that McDougal volunteered to cooperate, but that Starr did not want her to tell the truth and that he had asked her to submit a proffer that would smear the Clintons. She then realized that Starr was only out for Clinton blood and refused to cooperate therefrom. Russert asked about the check for over $5 thousand which said "Payoff Clinton" -- Geragos told Russert that when the truth came out, it would be one of the biggest ironies of the case.
We believe that check was written by Jim McDougal to return money to the Clinton's account which he embezzled from them on a prior occasion.
Both examined the Richard Mellon Scaife-American Spectator funding of anti-Clinton "witnesses" including David Hale, who was getting paid off by the right, with cooperation from the FBI and Senator Faircloth. Geragos said he will call Ken Starr in the McDougal trial and that Starr would resist in any way he could.
Russert then asked whether McDougal would testify if the President asked her to. "This has nothing to do with the President, this has to do with Kenneth Starr, " said Geragos.
Tim Russert brought on James Carville v. his wife Mary Matalin to debate executive privilege, Clinton, Starr and more.
Russert showed a video clip of the absolutely pukey Gingrich telling his constituents, "When I watch these paid hacks on television [defending the President] I am sickened by how they undermine the Constitution of the United States."
Carville laughed and said, "I am happy and hope he is nauseated once again. Red Rover, Red Rover, send another couple of them over. With people like Gingrich and Burton who needs..." chuckled James.
"Do you find it ironic that 60's liberals are now using the same arguments used by Nixon." asked Russert.
"Any defense you have, use it when Starr brings the First Lady under oath 6 times with no reason and no indictment." said Carville. Whatever the law says, that's what the President should do.
Oh Lord. Russert showed the "sooner than later, more than less" remarks by the President for the 157th time - trying to get Clinton. He then reinforces it with a tape of the President saying he is willing to live with this stuff hanging over his head forever. "Absolutely" said the President.
"Sure," said Carville, "we didn't know what this was going to be when the President said that." Namely, a witch hunt.
"What will be the impact if the President takes the Fifth?" asked Russert.
"He can, and he probably will, and the Republicans will continue to hold the majority in the House and Senate," said Matalin.
"It is not the Republican Party it is the 'Investigation Party,' and the people won't stand for it," retorted Carville.
Matalin laid this one on at the end: "It's going to end up that this President going down in history as having the most scandalous crime ridden legacy in this century certainly and its going to perpetuate a Republican majority in perpetuity."
Perpetuate in perpetuity? Better alert the Department of Redundancy Department, Mary!
Carville ended it like this: "The Investigation Party will not win. It will go down as the President doin' the best job any president in history. It's nothing but a bunch of paid poor people paid to tell a bunch of lies about him and that's what history is gonna be and I guarantee you that today!"
We agree.
This Week
This Week was nearly a complete waste of bandwidth again, save for a few choice moments with disgraced investigator David Bossie and DNC chair Roy Romer. There was a little entertainment value in Pat Buchanan's predictably xenophobis appearance to discuss the Daimler-Chrysler merger (not that he didn't repeat most of what he said on The Mc-Laugh-In Group), but the headlines for Monday circulated around the comments made by the first two guests.
Sam Donaldson started by asking Bossie if he was "fired because Newt told Dan to fire you -- true?" Bossie replied that he "resigned" after discussing the matter with Burton -- a different characterization than he gave to some last week, whom he told that he was in fact fired!
There's nothing like watching a known dirty trickster work their magic on national television. Bossie, still a loyal foot soldier in the war to "bring down" President Clinton, is "taking responsibility" for the Hubbell tapes flap -- then immediately shifting the blame for his resignation to "White House tactics [diverting] from the real issue." You have to laugh! The White House has diverted attention to the real issue: that Burton is an abusive idiot, with a thug for a lead investigator, on a witch-hunt to get Clinton. Instead he has ended up making a fool of himself!
More from Bossie: "I offered my resignation to put the focus back on the tapes."
How could it help but NOT put the focus not only on the tapes but the doctored transcripts -- which Bossie characterized as a "log" (sound familiar?)! As for focusing on Hubbell's "roll over" comment, this was an even bigger mistake, because the press is finally realizing that it has nothing to do with committing some sort of wrongdoing to protect the President or Mrs. Clinton.
Sam on the transcripts -- er, "logs": "...you omitted stuff... who did that?"
Bossie: "I don't know, we had a number of staffers [how could he not have known who was preparing these materials?]."
Sam: "Wait a monument you don't know?"
Bossie: "Yeah."
Sam: "But you were in charge."
Bossie: "Absolutely, and that's, to be perfectly honest, the reason that I got into trouble in the first place. I took responsibility for the editing process... ."
Sam asked if Burton suggested Bossie leave things out of the transcript; Bossie replied "Ab-so-lute-ly not!" San gives Dan too much possible credit for thinking, we say.
George Will mentioned that, according to Roll Call, Dan Burton never listened to the tapes or read the transcript (let us guess -- attention deficit disorder explains the former, too many multisyllabic words in the latter).
Bossie's excuse that "this is a big, broad, complicated investigation" actually works against both him and Burton -- they have, like Starr, expanded the so-called "purview" of the investigation into a fishing expedition for anything that will implicate the Clintons in some kind of wrongdoing, even if three or four times removed from the actual process of fundraising.
Cokie's question about turning over the Committee's database to Ken Starr got an answer from Bossie claiming that it's "perfectly appropriate, it's part of our job" to turn over evidence to law enforcement agencies. When Cokie mentioned that Waxman has claimed that this turnover was against committee rules, Bossie vehemently denied it -- though legal experts are nearly unanimous in agreeing with Waxman.
Even more odious was Bossie's claim -- in response to Donaldson's question about invasion of Hubbell's privacy making release of the tapes a mistake -- that "A convicted felon has no expectation of privacy."'
So it's just plain OK to make ALL of the man's personal phone calls public? It's a slimy excuse to threaten and humiliate Hubbell -- and for what? To pull comments out of context to imply that their might be a possibility of wrongdoing? You thought the exculpatory comments would not make a difference?
Bossie did concede that his investigation could not prove that Hubbell's receipt of pay as a consultant from a number of firms that hired him prior to his being sent to jail was "hush money." It doesn't help Bossie that almost all of these companies dropped Hubbell like a hot potato before he got hauled off to jail for his felonies.
The guest in the next segment, Democratic National Committee Chairman and Colorado Governor Roy Romer, generated real fireworks with his remarks on the Hubbell tapes, and was quoted in part in most of the major papers this morning. We'll conclude Pundit Pap with two of Romer's extended comments, which stand on their own and need no additional analysis:
"Let me tell you what really infuriated me about that interview. I don't think that man [Bossie] was telling you the truth. I think he was lying to you. I read the memorandum from that committee about what was done to those tapes, and they were deleted in more than one place, and they were edited. And this is the most serious abuse of power I have seen in a long time! Let me tell you, this reminds me of the McCarthy era. Let me tell you what happened here. They had those tapes for over a year, that's a violation, it would be a crime if anyone else in the United States released that. Only Congerss is exempt from that Privacy Act. And they released it as a political act. They altered a document. They were lying
to the American people."
"It's a dangerous thing when your government, that writes the law, what is a crime, sets up the procedure for how you are judged on crime. And then they will lie to you, deleting and deliberately decieving you, in that kind of way. That's dangerous."
We couldn't agree more.
-- The Editors
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