| POLICY
- COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM 101 (and a
Bush v. Clinton comparison of sorts) COMPASSIONATE
CONSERVATISM 101*
*As seen through President
Bush's Appointees/Nominees
The table below lists a sample of key appointees of President
Bush (as of 2/10/03 we have been able to go through about 50% of the
links we randomly saved - so there's more to come). There are a couple of reasons for this table.
1. Mr. Bush is on record saying that
one can judge a person by the company he keeps. Whether or not this is true,
it is certainly true that you can judge a person by the company he
appoints or nominates. We can simultaneously gain insights into the
brilliance of President Bush's proposed policy making apparatus.
2. What better way to understand Mr. Bush's moral and compassionate
agenda than through the background of his appointees.
We sincerely hope that all churches and places of worship and all
(hopefully compulsory) Catechism classes from Grades 1-12 in the U.S.
preach about, and offer eulogies to, the bevy of overwhelmingly
compassionate and astoundingly ethical appointees$$
- as reflected by their exceedingly, effusively and astoundingly moral
and compassionate positions on a slew of issues ranging from the
economy, civil rights, minority rights, women's rights, employee rights,
rights of the disabled, health rights, "states' rights", the
earth and the environment (that their God has given us), etc. As we
explore their positions on these and other remarkably morally uplifting
issues, we are forced to applaud Mr. Bush's resounding
moral clarity and leadership!#
In comparison, former President Clinton's
atrocities, immorality and uncompassionate, un-conservatism are
documented here. IMPORTANT
NOTE TO READ BEFORE PROCEEDING TO THE TABLE!
Note that comments
in the table below relating to "CC101"
(in red font) indicate the lesson to be taught at Church and in Catechism
class when profiling these able candidates. (Note
that "pro-" may mean "anti-" in many cases and
vice-versa - but
this is a minor irrelevant detail that can be ignored). The
remaining comments for each nominee/appointee (in black font except for
URLs) appear to be factual and may be ignored if desired - since it is
abjectly immoral, uncompassionate, un-conservative and un-American to
let facts stand in the way of moral clarity (Sure hope you weren't dumb
enough to have *not* known that).
Last
Update: 3/4/03
Click
on a Category
ECONOMY
<go back to the top>
| # |
Name
of Appointee/
Nominee, Post |
Some
interesting/relevant background about the Nominee/Appointee |
Current
status of
nominee/appointee |
| E9 |
William
Donaldson,
Nominee for SEC chief |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-investor-rights,
pro-family-values
(a) NY
Post: NYSE was involved in shareholder fraud using
unusual
trading approaches during Donaldson's reign as chief
there.
Attempts
were made to keep this away from the eyes of
the SEC.
(b) He was previously CEO at Aetna and faces
a class-action lawsuit
over hiding financial problems. (Also see Wash.
Times).
(c) Forbes:
As head of Aetna, "...Donaldson
presided over a company
that lost $400 million, maintained a corporate governance
structure
that squelched investor dissent in its attempt to repel
takeover
attempts, and he rejected a generous merger offer from
Wellpoint
Health Networks that would have left his shareholders
64%
richer than they are today..."
(d) He has also been opposed
to corporate reform
and full disclosure previously. He denounced
"...the SEC rule that
mandates fair disclosure of market-sensitive information
as "terrible" and "crazy" in statements
made last year..."
(e) Capital
Eye, Forbes:
"...As a member of the board and
compensation committee for EasyLink Services Corp.,
an Internet transaction company, he voted to forgive
a $200,000 (actually $268000 per Forbes - 3% of the
company's cash balance) loan to the CEO when
EasyLink's shares fell precipitously last April..."
(f) Capital
Eye: His investment firm DLJ has been a major
donor to Republicans and Democrats
(f) This one is irrelevant, but
interesting for Bush -
NY
Post: Had an affair while married, with the wife of
a Congressman and had a child from that affair. (via
P.L.A.)
CC101 Lesson:
Pro-civil-rights and pro-minority-rights
(d)
Donaldson responded to a slavery
reparations lawsuit against
Aetna recently
by saying reparations are not needed. Also see here.
|
Confirmed |
| E8 |
John
Snow,
Treasury Secretary
nominee |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-investor-rights, pro-earth,
pro-environment
pro-workers-rights, pro-balanced-budget,
pro-civil-rights,
pro-minority rights, pro-children's-rights, pro-women's-rights
(a) Mr.
Snow is CEO of CSX Corp. - a railroad company. As this
Citizens for Tax Justice memo shows: "...In
three of the past four
years,
Snow’s company, CSX Corporation, paid no federal income
tax
at all..."
"...In fact, instead of paying taxes, CSX supplemented
its $934 million
in pretax U.S. profits over the four years with a total of
$164 million in
tax rebate checks from the federal government...."
(b) Not to make too fine a point,
as Lean
Left also mentions, Mr.
Snow
opposed parts of the Sarbanes Corporate Reform Bill, and was
a
part of Mr. Cheney's "Energy Task Force"
meetings.
(c) CSX was subject to a sexual harassment lawsuit in 1997,
donated
tons of money to the GOP, is President of the Business Round
Table
which opposes the Kyoto Protocol : SRiMedia
(d) Mr. Snow was one of the directors targeted in a securities
fraud
class action lawsuit in the early 1990s : Smart
Money
(e) Mr. Snow in the past came down strongly as
a
balanced-budget advocate, but today
he is pushing
supply-side tax-cutting as the panacea for our economic
ills!
(f) Snow responded to a slavery reparations lawsuit against
CSX recently
by saying reparations are not needed. Also see here.
(g) Was target
of child support suit from ex-wife and had a DUI
arrest in the past (via P.L.A.)
|
Confirmed
by
Congress in Jan
2003 |
| E7 |
Michael
Powell
Chair of the FCC |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-consumer-rights,
pro-fairness-and-accuracy
-in-reporting
As FAIR
points out, Mr. Powell's opinions have placed him
fairly as a pro-big-corporation, anti-consumer advocate:
(a) "...Powell's salient quality as
head of the agency is his
apparent belief that it need not exist, since it's
better
to "let markets pick winners and losers" (TheStandard.com,
6/5/01).
"The oppressor here is regulation," Powell says (Washington
Post,
1/23/01). No wonder his appointment was
hailed as
"an outstanding choice," by National Association of
Broadcasters
president Eddie Fritts (Communications Daily,
1/23/01)...as
FCC commissioner, a job he's held since 1997. Powell
has often criticized rules restricting concentration, and
specifically
questioned the agency's authority to place public
interest conditions on mergers. Most recently,
he resisted the idea of requiring AOL and Time
Warner to give rival companies open access
to their cable TV systems as a condition of their
merger.
He expounded on that decision at his first
press conference as chairman (Broadcasting & Cable,
2/12/01):
"Some say, 'Openness is always good. Why are you
fighting?'
You know why? Because openness isn't always good.
If openness were always good, nobody would be fighting
over
copyright protection."..."
(b) "...The AOL/Time Warner deal also showcased
Powell's nonchalant approach to personal conflicts
of interest; he took part in the merger decision despite
the
fact that his father, Secretary of State Colin Powell,
was
one of AOL's directors, with lucrative stock options in
the company. (The New York Times' Stephen Labaton
has also noted [1/23/01] that since Michael Powell
joined the FCC, "the National Association of
Broadcasters
has been a generous contributor to the foundation
started by his father, America's Promise: the Alliance for
Youth.")..."
(c) "...Would, for example, consumer cable fees, which
have
risen three times as fast as inflation [as cable
modem
prices steadily
drop - eRiposte], be a sign that
deregulation in that industry was bad for consumers?
Nah, the increase doesn't bother him, says Powell
(Broadcasting & Cable, 2/12/01): "Look,
Americans like TV,
and they like multichannel TV, and there are mechanisms
for them to express their preferences in terms
of what they are willing to pay."
(d) Favors
media consolidation (also see
here) preventing
multiple views from reaching consumers, thereby
restricting fairness and/or accuracy in reporting.
|
Still the
chief |
| E6 |
Harvey
Pitt,
SEC Chief |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-investor-rights
(a) TPM
reporting on NYTimes
article: "...Pitt decided
to
appoint former CIA Director and FBI Director William
Webster to head a new accounting oversight board.
But Webster headed the audit committee of
a public company, U.S. Technologies, which was
facing investor lawsuits alleging fraud...Pitt
apparently
told Webster not to worry, that he'd checked,
and it was okay. (That's what Webster told the Times
and the SEC doesn't dispute it.) But apparently he hadn't
checked
or even told anyone else at the SEC about it..."
(b) Backing away from real corporate
reform: 1,
2,
3
(c) Preaching
for a "kinder, gentler SEC"!
(d) Indulging in continued
conflicts of interest by meeting with
individuals from companies being investigated by the SEC
-
including KPMG which Pitt worked for previously
|
Resigned on
11/5/02
but still
running
the SEC
for whatever
reasons |
| E5 |
Glenn
Hubbard,
Chair of the Council
of Economic Advisors
(CEA) |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-balanced-budget, Pro-fiscal-prudence
As pointed
out by Economist Brad DeLong, he contradicted
what he teaches about deficits, claiming they had no
impact
on interest rates (see additional
comments by DeLong).
As shown in the New Republic, Hubaard has
the distinction now
of tilting
the CEA much more towards politicization, and facing
criticism due to his self-contradictory stance
on budget deficits. |
WSJ reporting
that
Hubbard plans to
leave his post
sometime in Spring
2003 |
| E4 |
Lawrence
Lindsey,
Chair of National
Economic Council
(NEC) |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-civil-rights and
pro-minority-rights stance
Per the Washington
Post, "...Lindsey was widely seen as a
poor manager who held a job that required diplomacy
to bring disparate economic policies together into
a coherent package with a clear message...
See here for a quick comparison
of Larry Lindsey to
Clinton's Larry Summers (by Paul Krugman). A more
interesting
review is here by John Judis in the New Republic,
and another one here.
Larry Lindsey is a known
advocate
of supply-side economics that former President Bush (Sr.)
called "voodoo economics". |
Resigned
12/6/02 |
| E3 |
Paul
O'Neill,
Treasury Secretary |
CC101
Lesson: Speak your mind (before it
changes) above all else
unless you are profoundly immoral due to hate for tax cuts
Per the Washington
Post, Mr. O'Neill, "...has been roundly
criticized for a series of statements that had
shaken the faith of international bond markets and
Wall Street, and he had alienated many conservatives on
Capitol Hill. In recent days, O’Neill had been feuding
with Lindsey over the shape of an economic stimulus
package. Lindsey, with the backing of White House
political
advisers, has been pushing a broad package predicated
on the need to stimulate the economy, while O’Neill
has been saying for months that the economy is
recovering smartly and needed no such package..."
Additionally history on Mr. O'Neill's gaffes,
quotations,
stock
holdings, stance
on the IMF and more.
An interesting
review is
here by John Judis in the New Republic, and another one here. |
Resigned
12/6/02 |
| E2 |
John
Huntsman Jr.
Deputy U.S. Trade
Representative |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-trade
Per Molly
Ivins, "...Jon Huntsman Jr., the new
deputy trade representative, who is hot to trot on a
new round of trade liberalization under the World Trade
Organization.
Huntsman resigned from the privately owned Huntsman
Corporation,
a familiar name in Bush's hometown. Huntsman is famous
in
Midland-Odessa for its ``upsets,'' burn-offs of benzene,
butadiene and other carcinogens. Huntsman gets fines
even
under Texas' toothless standards, and has already
paid millions to the plant's neighbors over ``upsets.''..."
|
Still
at the helm? |
| E1 |
Linda
Chavez,
Labor Secretary
Nominee |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-labor-rights and
pro-illegal-immigrant-rights
(a)
Controversy about her housing an illegal immigrant: CNN,
Slate,
and hiding the news from the FBI until
the story broke. Showed
her hypocrisy as well - see
what she said about Zoe Baird.
(b) On record with extreme anti-labor-unions
position - also see
here.
(c) On record saying
that she opposes affirmative action, job-training
programs, increase in minimum wage - among other things. Her
nomination was opposed as a result by the largest
Hispanic
organization in the U.S.
|
Nomination
withdrawn |
JUDICIARY
<go back to the top>
Current nominations
appear to be on this U.S.D.O.J.
website. Note the remarks
by Ralph Neas of PFAW that by 2004,
all 13 Federal Circuit Courts
of Appeal could be controlled by Republican-nominated judges.
For those who think this is merely partisan sniping, Senator
Leahy's website shows the record that the Democratic
Senate
has in approving GOP nominees - and it's better that what the
Republicans' history during Clinton's years.
| # |
Name
of Appointee/
Nominee |
Some
interesting/relevant background about
the Nominee/Appointee |
Evidence
provided by |
Current
status of
nominee/appointee |
| J20 |
Stephen
Colloton |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-family -values
2/19/03: "...member
of former Whitewater independent
counsel Kenneth W. Starr's team to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, based in St. Louis.
The nominee, Steven M. Colloton of Iowa, was a law
clerk for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist..."
|
Washington
Post
|
NOMINATED |
| J19 |
Charles
Pickering
(friend of
Trent Lott) |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-minority-rights and
pro-civil-rights, pro-women's-rights
1/18/03:
Lied later that his contact with
the Sovereignty Commission related to
concerns over KKK infiltration
1/12/03:
Lied about not having had any
contact with Mississippi's State Sovereignty
Commission, his home state's notorious
anti-black secret police apparatus.
1/11/03: History of blatant
anti-civil-
rights, anti-women, anti-minorities rulings
|
MWO,
Joe Conason
(Salon);
FairJudges
The
Nation,
Independent
Judiciary, PFAW,
Mississippi
community leaders,
List
of other orgs.,
NWLC
|
RENOMINATED
and
PENDING |
| J18
|
Jeffrey
Sutton
(clerked with
Antonin Scalia)
A Director of
Federalist
Society
|
CC101
Lesson: Pro-minority-rights,
pro-civil-rights, pro-disabled-person-rights,
and pro-compassionate-conservatism
2/19/03: "...Sutton has argued
that the federal judiciary
should have almost unfettered discretion to override
Congress' empirical findings in support of its
legislation,
which would limit congressional authority to protect
individuals from violations of their rights
- such as hate crimes..."
2/8/03: "...persuaded the
Supreme Court to rule
against a nurse with breast cancer on the
ground that the Americans With Disabilities
Act does not apply to state employers..."
1/15/03:
Contributions to Bush/GOP
1/14/03: History of fighting cases
against
minorities and those with disabilities.
e.g., "...argued that victims of
discrimination must always prove "intent"
to discriminate - an exacting standard
requiring "smoking gun" evidence
such as a blatantly discriminatory
statement. Such evidence is unlikely to
be uncovered in most cases. Mr. Sutton's
argument had the effect of significantly
undercutting enforcement of the landmark
1964 Act..."
|
HRC
New
York Times
Margie
Burns
(BuzzFlash)
Atrios
Justice
for All
Independent
Judiciary
Wampum
ADA
Watch
List
of other orgs.
opposing Sutton
|
PENDING |
| J17
|
Priscilla
Owen
Member of
Federalist
Society
|
CC101
Lesson: Pro-minority-rights,
pro-civil-rights, pro-labor/employee-rights,
pro-women's-rights, and
pro-compassionate-conservatism
1/15/03:
Contributions to Bush/GOP
1/14/03: History of
anti-workers-rights,
anti-civil rights, anti-reproductive-choice,
anti-environment and pro-big-corporation
/anti-employee legal rulings.
Blatant ethics violations through
acceptance of campaign contributions from
corporate defendants like Enron
and Halliburton.
|
Margie
Burns
(BuzzFlash)
PFAW
NOW
Independent
Judiciary
1,
2
|
RENOMINATED
and
PENDING |
| J16 |
Deborah
Cook |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-civil-rights,
pro-labor/employee-rights, and
pro-compassionate-conservatism
2/8/03: "...Deborah Cook,
regularly sides, as a
state judge, with corporations. In one case she
maintained that a worker whose employer
lied to him about his exposure to
dangerous chemicals should not be able to
sue for his injuries..."
1/15/03:
Contributions to Bush/GOP
1/14/03: History of pro-big-business, anti-
worker, anti-civil-rights rulings/dissents
|
New
York Times
Margie
Burns
(BuzzFlash)
Independent
Judiciary
NARAL |
NOMINATED |
| J15 |
Miguel
Estrada
(the "Hispanic
Clarence Thomas"
according to some) |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-minority-rights,
pro-civil-rights, pro-labor/employee-rights,
pro-women's-rights, pro-patient-rights and
pro-compassionate-conservatism
2/19/03: Note as Michael
Kinsley points out:
"...With 42 circuit court vacancies to fill,
Estrada
is the only Hispanic Bush has nominated.
Clinton nominated 11, three of whom
the Republicans blocked..."
2/17/03: As The Nation points
out,
he was one of the lawyers who
represented the Bush/Cheney in
Bush v. Gore. It is stunning that such a
partisan can even get nominated, especially
one that refuses to answer questions about his
legal positions (imagine if a company hired a
manager who refuses to talk about his
experience!). More on this stuff at Best
of the Blogs.
2/5/03: Josh
Marshall documents what
appears to be a possible case of purgery
by Estrada which should be investigated
1/29/03: NYTimes
points out not only
Mr. Estrada's refusal to answer questions
but the limited information that shows he is
driven by an unusually conservative/right-wing
agenda.
1/15/03:
Contributions to Bush/GOP
1/14/03: Member of Federalist Society
with history or anti-civil-rights, anti-labor,
anti-patient positions
|
Also
see:
TPM
Margie
Burns
(BuzzFlash)
Independent
Judiciary
1,
2 |
NOMINATED |
| J14 |
Jay
Bybee |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-states-rights
2/19/03: "...In
a 1997 law review article, Bybee,
then a professor, offered an extremely troubling
view of the landmark equal protection case,
Romer v. Evans...
characterized sexual orientation-inclusive
civil rights laws as nothing more than
government-sponsored "preferences"
for "homosexuals."
2/8/03: History of
"interesting" positions on
"states' rights", etc.
2/7/03: "...has argued that
United States
senators should be elected by state legislators,
not the voters. Questions have also been raised
about whether, as a White House aide,
Mr. Bybee attempted to suppress
a criminal investigation of financing of Iraqi
weapons purchases..." |
HRC
PFAW
New
York Times
|
NOMINATED |
| J13 |
John
Roberts
(former Deputy
Solicitor General
to Bush I) |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-women's-rights,
pro-secular-rights and
pro-compassionate-conservatism
1/15/03:
Contributions to Bush/GOP
1/14/03:
Anti-reproductive-choice,
anti-secular positions in the past and
has disputed the notion that the current
Supreme Court is "conservative".
Nominated earlier by Bush I but
nomination lapsed due to concern over
extreme views as perceived by then
Judiciary Committee |
Margie
Burns
(BuzzFlash)
Independent
Judiciary
NARAL |
NOMINATED |
| J12
|
Carolyn
Kuhl
Member of
Federalist
Society
|
CC101
Lesson: Pro-minority-rights,
pro-civil-rights, pro-whistleblower-rights,
pro-women's-rights, pro-patient-rights
1/14/03:
Anti-civil-rights (e.g., a DOJ
employee who persuaded others to push
for tax exempt status for Bob Jones
University), anti-patient-rights, anti-
whistleblower-rights, anti-
reproductive-choice actions
|
Independent
Judiciary
NARAL
|
NOMINATED |
| J11
|
Terrence
William
Boyle
(former aide to
Jesse Helms)
|
CC101
Lesson: Pro-minority-rights,
pro-civil-rights, pro-disabled-person-rights,
pro-women's-rights
1/14/03:
Anti-civil-rights, anti-disabled-
person, anti-women's-rights positions
and rulings
|
Independent
Judiciary |
NOMINATED |
| J10 |
Timothy
Tymkovich |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-gay-rights,
pro-women's-rights
2/19/03: "...Amendment 2 sought
to ban any
municipality in Colorado from enacting laws that
would protect gay people from discrimination...
Tymkovich defended Colorado's Amendment
2...
"He describes anti-discrimination laws as
'special legal protections for homosexuals'
and 'special rights,' common rhetoric for those
opposed to equal protection for gays and lesbians."
In the article, Tymkovich lumped homosexuality
with a
litany of "immoral" and dangerous behaviors,
including sadomasochism, cockfighting, bestiality,
suicide, drug use and prostitution..."
1/14/03:
Anti-gay-rights, anti-women's-
rights rulings
|
HRC
Independent
Judiciary
|
NOMINATED |
| J9
|
William
H. Steele
(to be replaced
by
William Pryor Jr.?)
|
CC101
Lesson: Pro-civil-rights
1/14/03:
History of anti-civil-rights rulings
|
Independent
Judiciary |
NOMINATED |
| J8 |
William
H.
Pryor Jr. |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-civil-rights,
pro-women's-rights, pro-secularism
1/14/03:
Host of anti-civil-rights, anti-
reproductive-choice, anti-secular
positions/rulings
|
Law.com |
TBD |
| J7 |
Douglas
Kmiec |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-civil-rights,
pro-women's-rights, pro-earth/environment
1/14/03:
History of anti-civil-rights, anti-
reproductive-choice, anti-environmental
inclinations
|
Independent
Judiciary |
TBD |
| J6 |
Dennis
Shedd
(former counsel
to Strom Thurmond) |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-minority-rights,
pro-civil-rights, pro-employee-rights,
pro-women's-rights, pro-disabled-person's
-rights
1/14/03:
History of actions and decisions
against civil rights, against
women's/employee rights, and against
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
|
Justice
for All
NOW
|
CONFIRMED |
| J5 |
Michael
McConnell |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-minority-rights,
pro-civil-rights, pro-women's-rights,
and pro-Compassionate-Conservatism
1/15/03:
Contributions to Bush/GOP
1/14/03: History of anti-civil
rights,
anti-reproductive-choice, and other
right-wing opinions |
Margie
Burns
(BuzzFlash)
Independent
Judiciary
Law
Professors
NARAL |
CONFIRMED |
| J4 |
D.
Brooks Smith |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-consumer-rights,
pro-workers-rights, pro-women's-rights,
and pro-civil-rights
1/14/03:
Anti-workers-rights, anti-
consumer -rights, anti-women's-rights
rulings and memberships in controversial
discriminatory clubs
|
Independent
Judiciary
New
York Times
AFJ |
CONFIRMED |
| J3 |
Lawrence
Block |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-earth/environment,
pro-workers-rights, pro-health-rights
1/14/03:
Anti-environmental, anti-health/
safety, etc. positions
|
EarthJustice
Independent
Judiciary |
CONFIRMED |
| J2 |
Lavenski
Smith |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-women's-rights
2/8/03: History of
anti-reproductive-choice,
and anti-women's-rights opinions (was against
Roe v. Wade) |
PP |
CONFIRMED |
| J1 |
Paul
Cassell |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-defendant-rights,
pro-constitutional-rights
1/14/03:
Anti-defendant-rights,
anti-constitutional-rights rulings. Has
also stated that: “No innocent person has
been executed in this country for
roughly the last half century.” !
|
Independent
Judiciary |
CONFIRMED |
HEALTH/WOMEN
<go back to the top>
| # |
Name
of Appointee/
Nominee |
Some
interesting/relevant background about the Nominee/Appointee |
Current
status of
nominee/appointee |
| H16 |
David
Hager,
FDA's Advisory
Committee for
Reproductive
Health Drugs |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-women's-rights, pro-life
(a)
Anti-abortion believer who participated in a Christian
Medical
Association campaign that attempted to reverse the FDA
committee's 1996 recommendation that led to approval of
the abortion pill RU-486. Has condemned birth control pills.
(b) Against emergency contraception.
Apparently refuses to
prescribe contraceptives to unwed mothers and has spoken out
against condom use outside of marriage.
(b) He and his wife have recommended
"specific scripture
readings and prayers for such ailments as headaches and
premenstrual syndrome".
Sources: WP,
FMF,
Time,
NOW,
PP
|
|
| H15 |
Joseph
B. Stanford,
FDA's Advisory
Committee for
Reproductive
Health Drugs |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-women's-rights, pro-life
(a) Refuses
to prescribe "contraceptives of any sort."
(b) He also erroneously classifies some forms of the
birth
control pill as potential abortifacients. (See "Sex,
Naturally," First
things, the Journal of Religion and Public Life,
November 1999.)
(c) Advocates “natural family planning”,
e.g. the rhythm method,
as the only acceptable form of contraception because
“…medicine
is permeated with attitudes toward sexuality and fertility
that are
incompatible with Christian values of the sanctity of life,
marriage,
and procreation, attitudes that both reflect and perpetuate
the
recreational approach to sexuality found in our secular
culture,” reported HealthScoutNews.
Source: PP,
FMF
|
Still at the helm
|
| H14 |
Freda
McKissic
Bush
CDC Advisory
Committee on HIV
and STD Prevention |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-safe-sex,
pro-abstinence
"...Dr. Bush is a member of the advisory
council of
the Medical Institute — an anti-condom “research” group
—
and the director of Virginity Rules, an
“abstinence-only”
program (CDC, 2002b; The Medical Institute, 2002b).
Source: PP
|
Still
at the helm |
| H13 |
Louise
Oliver
Special Asst.
State Dept. Bureau of
Population, Refugees
and Migration |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-life,
pro-population-control-
without-birth-control
"...She was President of Harvard Law
School's Society
for Law, Life and Religion - a group dedicated to
'defending
religious values and the sanctity of human life from
conception to natural death'..." (i.e., a so-called
pro-life group).
She was part of the team that ended U.S.
support for a world
health plan for population control! "...Louise Oliver, a
special
assistant in the State Department's population office, also said
the
Bush administration objected to such terms as
``reproductive services'' and ``reproductive health care''
because they imply a right to abortion, according
to a senior U.N. official who attended the session..."
Source: PP,
Mercury
News
|
Still
at the helm |
| H12 |
Daniel
Troy
FDA Chief
Legal Counsel |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-health-rights, pro-children,
pro-people
Salon
(a) "...in private practice, Troy had successfully
challenged
the agency's power to regulate drug companies --
particularly the companies' ability to freely
promote and market their products..."
(b) "...Troy has overseen a dramatic decrease in
the number of drug companies that have been
reprimanded for running false or misleading commercials
-- even as the drug ads filling our TV screens and
magazines have multiplied. Of course, it could just be
that the drug companies have all joined the Boy
Scouts and are now being meticulously honest
and trustworthy..."
Common
Dreams
(c) "...there has been a 60 percent decline since
last
year in the number of all FDA warning letters for
various types of infractions, from clinical trials to
marketing.
These letters represent the first step in FDA policing.
The decline coincides with an order from the
administration
last December requiring that Troy's office review all
enforcement
letters before they are sent to ensure they consistently
apply
FDA rules and are legally sound. Critics say the policy,
combined with Troy's background, has had a chilling
effect on FDA staff members who monitor drug company
actions..."
|
Still
at the helm |
| H11 |
Janet
Rehnquist
Inspector General
Health and Human
Services |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-health-rights, pro-gun-rights,
pro all-in-all
Daughter of the Chief Justice, she is under
investigation
by Congress on several issues including the shredding
and destruction of documents by her office.
"...The General Accounting Office, an
investigative arm of Congress, was already conducting a
comprehensive review of Ms. Rehnquist's office after
complaints
from employees who said she had politicized the agency,
which investigates fraud and abuse in federal programs...
The accounting office was investigating whether Ms. Rehnquist
kept a gun in her office without authorization, violated
personnel
rules by ousting career employees and ordered delays in
a
federal audit of the Florida state employees' pension
fund
to avoid embarrassing Gov. Jeb Bush. In
its inquiry, the
accounting office learned of the destruction of
documents
in the office of the inspector general, known as O.I.G.
It informed Ms. Rehnquist, who informed Congress..."
New
York Times, Washington
Post.
|
Still at the helm
|
| H10 |
Joseph
Jennings
Presidential Advisory
Commission on
HIV/AIDS |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-AIDS-victims, pro-abstinence
"...Joseph
Jennings is a motivational speaker, and former gang
leader, who travels the country speaking to children
about
drugs and violence. Jennings’ background in HIV/AIDS
comes mostly from telling teenagers to abstain from sex.
Jennings is a frequent speaker for Acquire The Fire
youth
conferences. Acquire The Fire, organized by TeenMania
Ministries,
promotes among other issues, religious conversion
as a cure for homosexuality and sexual abstinence until
marriage."
Source: NSD
(via Atrios)
(bold text is our emphasis)
|
Nominated
|
| H9 |
Anita
Smith
Presidential Advisory
Commission on
HIV/AIDS |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-AIDS-victims,
pro-abstinence,
pro-gay, pro-women
"...Anita Smith
is the co-founder of the Children AIDS Fund
(formally Americans for a Sound HIV/AIDS Policy). Smith
has stated that her organization "believes abstinence
is
the only true prevention." (Family Voice,
July/August 2001). Smith’s
organization lobbied against including HIV/AIDS status
in
the Americans With Disabilities Act. The organization
has
also pushed to take money from prevention efforts in
the gay community and reassign it to less effective
efforts.
Smith has also worked extensively to promote
abstinence-only programs. Smith has appeared in articles by
the
Concerned Women for America, who have lobbied to keep
gay
men off the council. Referencing potential appointments to
the
council, Concerned Women for America stated: "What
we
have here, frankly, is a power struggle between
homosexual
white men who have used all the government AIDS
programs fundamentally to fund their subculture and
political activities, versus the other dominate
demographic
group who’s suffering from AIDS, - namely, black women."
(Battle Underway of AIDS Panel, Family News in Focus.
October 29, 2001)..."
Source: NSD
(via Atrios)
(bold text is our emphasis) |
Nominated |
| H8 |
Dandrick
Moton
Presidential Advisory
Commission on
HIV/AIDS |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-AIDS-victims, pro-abstinence
"...a
man whose background in HIV/AIDS policy consists of
traveling with his mother as dual motivational speakers
to promote abstinence for youth until marriage..."
Source: NSD
(via Atrios)
(bold text is our emphasis) |
Nominated |
| H7 |
Joe
McIlaney
Presidential Advisory
Commission on
HIV/AIDS |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-AIDS-victims,
pro-abstinence, pro-safe-sex-myth
"...Dr.
Joe McIlaney is the founder and director of the
Medical Institute for Sexual Health (MISH) in Austin,
Texas.
MISH is an abstinence and anti safe-sex organization.
Dr. McIlaney is
most noted for his repeated attacks against the idea of
using
condoms to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Among his books, McIlaney co-wrote The Myth of Safe Sex
with
James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family (which runs
a
prominent ex-gay ministry). McIlaney frequently
interprets
medical statistics for his own liking, and those
interpretations
are often used by anti-gay groups.
On November 15, 2001, McIlaney testified
before Congress to promote abstinence. McIlaney also
enjoyed influence over the state health curriculum
while George W. Bush was Governor of Texas..."
Also known for promoting falsities about condom efficiency.
Source: NSD
(via Atrios)
(bold text is our emphasis), PP |
Nominated |
| H6 |
Tom
Coburn
Co-Chair,
Presidential Advisory
Commission on
HIV/AIDS |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-AIDS-victims, pro-gay,
pro-abstinence, pro-safe-sex (without use of condoms)
"...Former Rep.
Tom Coburn (R-OK) received a 0% Congressional
voting rating in all three of his terms from the Human Rights
Campaign.
In addition to his poor record on issues of concern to the
gay
and lesbian community, Coburn consistently voted against
needed
HIV/AIDS legislation. Coburn also called for the firing
of the Director
of the Centers for Disease Control because the CDC
promotes
condom use to prevent transmission of the HIV virus.
Rich
Tafel, Executive Director of LCR, has called Coburn’s past
votes
"morally wrong and politically dangerous."
(Washington
Blade, May 07, 1999)
Source: NSD
(via Atrios)
(bold text is our emphasis)
|
Nominated |
| H5 |
Jerry
Thacker
Presidential Advisory
Commission on
HIV/AIDS |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-AIDS-victims, pro-gay,
pro-Jesus-Christ (very important)
"...In his
speeches and writings on his Web site and elsewhere,
Thacker has described homosexuality as a "deathstyle"
rather than a lifestyle and asserted that "Christ
can rescue the
homosexual." After word of his selection spread among
gays
in recent days, some material disappeared from the Web
site.
Earlier versions located by The Washington Post that referred
to the "gay plague," for instance, were changed as
of
yesterday to "plague."...Thacker's
promotional
materials stress the need for compassion toward all
people
with AIDS, and they urge churches to think
"Christianly"
about people with AIDS and to hate the sin, but love the
sinner. "Be compassionate to those caught up in
this
sinful deathstyle," the Bob Jones summary said.
"Only when
homosexuals know it is a sin can they repent..." (bold
text is our emphasis)
Sources: WP,
Atrios, etc.
|
Thacker
withdrew
his name from
consideration |
| H4 |
Pat
Ware
Executive Director,
Presidential Advisory
Council on HIV/AIDS |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-AIDS-victims,
pro-abstinence
Expressed belief that
"...gay white men are
responsible for infecting the African American
community with AIDS...", "...vocal proponent of
abstinence
as an AIDS prevention method..."
"...her
advocacy that undermines safe-sex education and that
shifts away money from prevention efforts in the gay
community.
Ware has been associated with anti-gay organizations such
as
the Family Research Council and is most closely linked to
her
work with Americans for a Sound HIV/AIDS Policy (ASAP),
which has since changed its name to the Children’s AIDS
Fund.
ASAP was an abstinence-only organization opposed to most
HIV/AIDS education and prevention measures. ASAP also lobbied
against including HIV and AIDS in the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
Ware herself is a strong abstinence-only proponent,
lobbying
against any effort that promotes education and protection
over
abstinence.
Ware is also opposed to condom use. Pat Ware has
advocated that
the government shift away funds from groups that serve
gays and towards abstinence-only education. At the 2000
Republican Convention in Philadelphia, Ware referenced
the
"innocent babies" infected with HIV, a comment
that
implied that others are "guilty" victims of the
epidemic..."
Sources: San
Francisco Chronicle,
NSD
(via Atrios)
(bold text is our emphasis)
|
Transferred
to serve
as special assistant to
Claude Allen, Asst. Sec.
of the Department of
Health & Human
Services,
where she will work on
minority health issues
due to Thacker flap. |
| H3 |
John
Klink
Asst. Secretary of State,
Bureau of Population,
Refugees and Migration |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-women's rights, pro-life,
pro-safe-sex,
pro-raped-refugee-rights
Anti-women's-rights,
anti-reproductive-choice,
anti-safe-sex (abhors condoms). "...Klink
is a former Holy See
diplomat who, according to the CFFC, has
opposed the use of condoms as way of limiting
the spread of AIDS. In one document issued by the
CFFC, Klink is quoted as saying contraception is,
“morally unacceptable” and in another document,
Klink is quoted as saying the, “Holy See in
no way endorses contraception or the use of
condoms, either as a family planning
measure or in HIV/AIDS prevention programs...”
(Klink was against emergency contraception being
provided to raped women)
Sources: PP,
CFCC
|
Name
withdrawn from
consideration
after protests |
| H2 |
*None*
(i.e., fired)
White House Office of
Women's Initiatives and
Outreach (shut down) |
CC101
Lesson: Anti-women's rights
In March 2001, the WH Women's
Initiatives and Outreach
Office was shut down.
Source: Denver
Business Journal, PP
|
Shut
down |
| H1 |
Tommy
Thompson
Secretary of Health and
Human Services |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-women's-rights,
pro-raped-children's-rights
pro-scientific-integrity etc.
Anti-reproductive-choice
positions; on advisory
board
of Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) - which is an
extreme
right-wing organization with outrageous
goals (P.L.A).
Additionally, led delegation to U.N.
children's summit opposing
special rehabilitation for raped children (including birth
control
and abortions).
Removed scientific statistics from National
Cancer
Institute from HHS websites that showed that breast
cancer risk does not increase due to abortions. Also removed
fact sheets on condom effectiveness.
Sources: PP, PP
|
Still
at the helm |
ENVIRONMENT/LAND/ENERGY
<go back to the top>
(more to come)
| # |
Name
of Appointee/
Nominee |
Some
interesting/relevant background about the Nominee/Appointee |
Current
status of
nominee/appointee |
| E6 |
Spencer
Abraham
Energy Secretary
Member of
Federalist
Society
|
CC101
Lesson: Pro-environment/earth,
Pro-conservation
On advisory
board of Washington Legal Foundation (WLF)
- which is an extreme right-wing organization with outrageous
goals (P.L.A). Very poor environmental record (LCV).
|
Still
at the helm |
| E5 |
Mark
Rey
Undersecretary for
Natural Resources and
the Environment,
Dept. of Agriculture |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-environment/earth,
Pro-conservation
Extensive history of anti-environmental and
pro-timber-
industry positions and jobs. Examples:
(a) "...served as
vice president of forest resources for the American
Forest & Paper Association, the country’s leading
advocate for logging in our national forests..."
(b) Vociferously opposes the National
Forest Roadless
Conservation Policy, which would protect
the last 1/3 of our nation’s wild places from
logging, mining, and other destructive activities.
and many many more... also see page
8 of this EarthJustice report.
|
Still
at the helm |
| E4 |
William
Myers III
Interior Solicitor
(Chief Law officer
at Interior) |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-environment/earth,
Pro-conservation
An individual with a history of (a)
anti-environmental
positions/jobs and actions including an interest in
partially gutting
the Endangered Species Act,
(b) He "...top guy at the National Cattlemen's Beef
Association
and represented the grazing interests in lawsuits
against the policies he will now be enforcing..." (Molly
Ivins)
(c) "...Publicly opposed important environmental
policies,
including the National Forest Roadless Conservation
Policy,
wolf re-introduction in Yellowstone, and grazing fee
reforms. Myers also supported and vigorously defended
the slaughter of bison adjacent to Yellowstone National Park..."
(EarthJustice)
|
Still
at the helm |
| E3 |
J.
Steven Griles
Deputy Secretary,
Interior Dept. |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-environment/earth,
Pro-conservation
An individual with a history of (a)
destroying environmental
laws, (b) playing openly for oil, gas, energy and
mining companies, and (c) flagrant
conflicts of interest/ethics violations. History is
too detailed to provide but see Friends
of the Earth for a
detailed summary.
|
Still
at the helm |
| E2 |
Gale
Norton
Interior Secretary
Member of
Federalist
Society
|
CC101
Lesson: Pro-minorities-rights,
pro-civil-rights,
pro-environment/earth, pro-poor
(a) Pro-"states'-rights"
(i.e., slavery)
(b) History of severe anti-environmental,
pro-pollution,
pro-oil/gas/energy company positions and actions:
See
Alternet
for instance: "...is compiling a record as
perhaps the most anti-environmental Interior
Secretary in history – even worse, perhaps, than
notorious
Reagan Interior Secretary James Watt, who resigned from
his post after trying to cede public lands to
special interests and losing the confidence of the
American people...Norton is an ideological extremist who
worked for two decades to dismantle the very laws the
Interior Department is sworn to uphold. Before becoming
Interior Secretary, she espoused the "right to
pollute" and
other extreme positions, including support of laws
allowing
polluters to police themselves. As Colorado attorney
general,
she was hostile to environmental protection and took a
head-in-the-sand approach to polluters. She stood by,
for instance, as cyanide leaks from the Summitville gold
mine
killed wildlife in 17 miles of the Alamosa River. As a
lawyer,
she represented the oil industry, loggers and miners.
She
was a senior attorney at the arch-conservative Mountain
States Legal Foundation under its founder, the bombastic
Watt...
She has politicized the Interior Department by filling
numerous key positions with executives and lobbyists
from
resource-extracting industries. Together, they have moved
briskly
to open more fragile public lands to oil and gas
drilling,
mining and off-road vehicles – sometimes even refusing
to
conduct environmental reviews mandated by federal law.
Government scientists who object have been silenced or
ignored."
(c) On advisory
board of Washington Legal Foundation (WLF)
- which is an extreme right-wing organization with outrageous
goals (P.L.A). Also see Common
Dreams.
|
Still
at the helm |
| E1 |
Curtis
Hebert,
Chair of FERC |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-deregulation, pro-consumer
Strong
"deregulation" believer who did not believe in
intervening
in the markets even during power crisis in California and
other
states, that was that was significantly due to market
manipulation by energy companies like Enron. Enron was
lobbying
FERC extensively
during this time. The facts are in dispute whether
Hebert asked Ken Lay of Enron to support his continued
chairmanship
or whether Ken Lay essentially threatened Hebert
that he would not support the latter if Hebert did not support
Enron.
Per Consortium
News, Hebert may
have been forced to resign
because of two positions of his that conflicted with then
Enron CEO
Ken Lay's desires and the fact that Ken Lay held major sway
over
the Bush administration.
|
Resigned
in
Aug 2001 |
NATIONAL
SECURITY/LAW <go back to the top>
| # |
Name
of Appointee/
Nominee |
Some
interesting/relevant background about the Nominee/Appointee |
Current
status of
nominee/appointee |
| S12 |
John
Bolton
Undersecretary of
State for Arms Control
and Intl. Security
Affairs |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-non-proliferation, pro-humility,
pro-U.N.,
pro-all-in-all
As CLW
points out, Bolton was a Vice President at
the American Enterprise Institute, with stints in the
Reagan Justice Department and Bush Sr. State Department.
(a) "...Bolton has opposed many of the
programs that would fall
under his jurisdiction, including the Anti- Ballistic
Missile
Treaty, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty and the International Criminal Court..."
(b) "...At a 1994 panel discussion
sponsored by the World
Federalist Association Bolton claimed "there's no such
thing
as the United Nations," and stated ''if the UN
secretary
building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a
bit of difference.''..."
(c) Stated that "..."Support for
the International Criminal Court
concept is based largely on emotional appeals to an
abstract
ideal of an international judicial system." House
International Relations Committee, 07/07/00..."
(d) "...As a
young lawyer Bolton in 1978 Bolton helped Sen. Helms'
National Congressional Club form Jefferson Marketing "as
a
vehicle to supply candidates with such services as
advertising
and direct mail without having to worry about the federal
laws
preventing PACs, like the Congressional Club, from
contributing more
than $5,000 per election to any one candidate's campaign
committee" (Legal Times). He later defended the club
against charges
from the FEC that led to a $10,000 fine in 1986. As a reward
for his
service Sen. Helms "helped the career of John
Bolton" by
supporting him for his Department of Justice and State
positions
(Legal Times)..."
(e) "...At the Justice Department,
Bolton acted as the Department's
"no man" refusing to provide congressional
committees documents
on Supreme Court nominees William Renquist, Antonin Scalia
and
Anthony Kennedy. He also refused to provide information,
including his personal notes regarding the Iran-Contra
scandal, and aided congressional Republicans who
attempted to stop investigations of Contra drug smuggling..."
(f) "...After leaving the State
Department under the first Bush
Administration, Bolton headed the National Policy Forum
which
"reportedly pursued money from overseas" for the RNC
(Los
Angeles Times). The NPF defaulted on a $1.3 billion loan
guaranteed
by Hong Kong businessman Ambrous Young, who's lawyer
claimed
his willingness to absorb the debt was "contingent upon
Mr. Young
getting something in return," namely "business
opportunities."
The Taiwanese government
"served as an intermediary for a $25,000
contribution" to the
NPF (Washington Post). At his confirmation hearing
Bolton
acknowledged that he had received $30,000 from the
Taiwanese government for writing a series of papers..."
(g) As Hoover
points out, he was one of the key lawyers who
represented Bush in Bush v. Gore.
|
Serving |
| S11 |
Thomas
Kean
Head of 9/11
Independent Panel |
CC101
Lesson: A pro with principles
As Fortune
points out:
"...Kean
appears to have a bizarre link to the very
terror network he's investigating--al Qaeda.
Here's how the dots connect: Kean is a director of
petroleum
giant Amerada Hess, which in 1998 formed a joint
venture--known
as Delta Hess--with Delta Oil, a Saudi Arabian company,
to develop oil fields in Azerbaijan. One of Delta's backers
is
Khalid bin Mahfouz, a shadowy Saudi patriarch married to
one of Osama bin Laden's sisters. Mahfouz, who is suspected
of
funding charities linked to al Qaeda, is even named as a
defendant in a lawsuit filed by families of Sept. 11
victims.
True, Hess is hardly the only company to cross paths with
Mahfouz:
He has shown up in dealings with, among others,
ultra-secretive investment firm Carlyle Group and BCCI,
the lender toppled by fraud in 1992. Kean,
who was unavailable for
comment, may not have been aware of the Mahfouz
connection.
But Hess spokesman Carl Tursi did reveal another
interesting coincidence: Three weeks before Kean's
appointment, Hess severed its ties with Delta.
|
Serving
as head |
| S10 |
John
Lehman
9/11 Investigative
Panel Member |
CC101
Lesson: A lover of the truth
As Wayne
Madsen points out, "...Lehman
was Navy secretary
from 1981 to 1987 and presided over
Ronald Reagan's buildup to a 600-ship Navy.
But Lehman also presided over one of the worst cover-ups
in
the Navy's entire 227-year history. Long before the Roman
Catholic
Church pedophile scandal, the U.S. Navy experienced one
of its own. It involved at least one U.S. Naval Academy
graduate, P-3 Orion naval pilots with access to nuclear
weapons (the P-3 Orion is an anti-submarine warfare
aircraft),
personnel with top-secret clearances, and officers in
leadership
positions of trust akin to those of clergymen. The Navy's
pedophilia
scandal broke in the quiet and serene Oregon coastal
town
of Coos Bay on Sept. 11, 1982, when the commanding
officer
of the U.S. Naval Facility, a classified submarine
tracking
station, was arrested by local police for involvement in
child
pornography and lascivious acts with minors, including
sodomy.
The arrest followed a 2-month-long investigation involving
the
FBI and the Naval Investigative Service. At a general
courts-martial
held later that year, the commanding officer, a U.S. Naval
Academy
graduate and P-3 Orion pilot having both Critical Nuclear
Weapons Design
Information and top-secret communications security
clearances
was found guilty of 16 counts of sodomy and lewd
conduct.
Immediately after the Coos Bay arrest, Lehman's Navy
Department bureaucracy went into cover-up mode.
Reporters
from the local NBC television affiliate in Coos Bay were
barred from both the naval base and the dependents' housing
area...." |
Serving |
| S9 |
Henry
Kissinger
Head of 9/11
Independent Panel |
CC101
Lesson: Outstanding lover of human
rights and the truth
As The
Nation states, while laying out Kissinger's record:
"...Asking Henry Kissinger to investigate government
malfeasance
or nonfeasance is akin to asking Slobodan Milosevic to
investigate war crimes. Pretty damn akin, since Kissinger
has
been accused, with cause, of engaging in war crimes of
his own. Moreover, he has been a poster-child for
the worst excesses of secret government and secret
warfare.
Yet George W. Bush has named him to head a supposedly
independent commission to investigate the nightmarish
attacks
of September 11, 2001, a commission intended to tell the
public what went wrong on and before that day. This
is a sick, black-is-white, war-is-peace joke--a
cruel insult to the memory of those killed on 9/11..."
As the WP
wrote: "...the appointment had
also prompted a
steady stream of objections, including some from
relatives
of victims in the terrorist attacks. They questioned
Kissinger's
reliability and urged him to disclose his client list. Kissinger
met with 11 members of victims' family groups Thursday,
telling
them that he did not believe he had any conflicts of
interest and promising to provide the families
personally
with details. But, according to several of the meeting's
participants,
he indicated he did not intend to release the information
publicly.
Stephen Push, a leader of Families of Sept. 11th, said
yesterday he
found Kissinger's resignation "very puzzling."
"He told us
that he had no conflicts, yet he's apparently resigning
from
an opportunity to serve his country so his clients can
remain anonymous," Push said. "It's disturbing
that
we've had two high-profile resignations in a row." |
Resigned
over
his past and
present (links
to clients that
he would not
disclose) |
| S8 |
Ted
Olson
Solicitor General
Member of
Federalist
Society
|
CC101
Lesson: Outstanding example of
truth-telling angel
and a pro all-in-all
(a) Was a key participant in the activities
surrounding the
Ken Starr investigation of Bill Clinton - even
representing
discredited liar and so-called witness David Hale. (See Murray
Waas (TAP). Lied about his involvement and
fabricated lies about then-President Clinton. See MyDD (1
and 2)
and Salon (1
and 2)
as well.
See TNR:
"..."If any single figure in Washington embodied
the
effort to undermine Clinton it was Ted Olson," write Joe
Conason
and Gene Lyons in their encyclopedic The Hunting of the
President.
"Olson didn't seek publicity…but he had played a part
in
almost every assault on the president." Among the
examples
Conason and Lyons cite are Olson's representation of
former
Arkansas judge David Hale, whose testimony was central
to
Ken Starr's Whitewater inquiry; writing nasty (and
pseudonymous)
articles for The American Spectator comparing
Clinton,
unfavorably, to Richard Nixon and Don Corleone;
and convening meetings of various Richard Mellon
Scaife-funded Clinton foes at his law offices
in Washington--meetings that eventually led to the
creation
of the Spectator's infamous "Arkansas
Project."..."
(b) Was a key lawyer for Bush in Bush v.
Gore, 2000.
(c) Ultra-right wing conservative.
(d) Responsible, along with Mr. Ashcroft for reinterpreting
second amendment in favor of the NRA. |
Still at
the helm |
| S7 |
John
Negroponte
Ambassador to the U.N. |
CC101
Lesson: Outstanding example of
pro-civil-rights, truth-telling angel
Negroponte was,
"...one of Ronald Reagan's key Central American
officials during the secret Contra wars that nearly
destroyed
the Reagan presidency. He was Ambassador to Honduras
at the time and allegedly turned a blind eye to
Honduran military atrocities....Negroponte’s embassy
deliberately
withheld the details of human rights atrocities from the
State Department, from the US Congress, in order not
to provide a political tool to opponents of the Contra
war..."
Also see Bear-Left
(via PLA)
|
Still at
the helm |
| S6 |
Otto
Reich
(a) Asst. Sec. of State,
Western Hemisphere
Affairs
(b) Special Envoy to
the Western Hemisphere |
CC101
Lesson: Outstanding example of
pro-civil-rights, truth-telling angel
As the American
Prospect says, he is "...an extreme right-wing
ideologue who, in the service of pushing his agenda,
won't hesitate
to warp reality, using classic psychological warfare tools
of
disinformation and innuendo. Digging into Reich's activities
of
the past 20 years, it's difficult to prove his critics
wrong;
from stints as an Oliver North associate during
Iran-Contra
to lobbying for Bacardi to helping write the dingy
Helms-Burton Act (which props up a 40-year anti-Cuban
embargo the rest of the world sees as bizarrely
petulant)
and being a shill for sweatshops, Reich's entire career
looms as a monument to an almost sublime fusion
of skillful spinning and right-wing advocacy..." In other
words, a
liar extraordinaire who would do anything to justify the ends. |
Still at
the helm |
| S5 |
John
Poindexter
Director,
Total Information
Awareness (TIA) office,
DARPA |
CC101
Lesson: Outstanding example of
pro-civil-rights, truth-telling angel
(a) FAS:
"...John M. Poindexter -- Indicted March 16, 1988,
on seven felony charges. After standing trial on five
charges,
Poindexter was found guilty April 7, 1990, on all
counts:
conspiracy (obstruction of inquiries and proceedings,
false
statements, falsification, destruction and removal of
documents); two counts of obstruction of Congress and
two counts of false statements. U.S. District Judge
Harold H. Greene sentenced Poindexter June 11, 1990,
to six months in prison on each count, to be served
concurrently. A three-judge appeals panel on November
15,
1991, reversed the convictions on the ground that
Poindexter's immunized testimony may have influenced the
trial
testimony of witnesses. The Supreme Court on December 7,
1992,
declined to review the case. In 1993, the indictment
was dismissed on the motion of Independent Counsel..."
Note: The convictions were
reversed by a 2-1 verdict with
Laurence Silberman and David Sentelle voting for Oliver North
and John Poindexter. Silberman and Sentelle played a critical
role in the cooked-up Whitewater scandal and in the
right-wing
conspiracy to destroy the Clintons (see the
books by Joe Conason/Gene Lyons or David Brock) - also
see
Consortium
News.
Also see Bear-Left
(via PLA) |
Still at
the helm |
| S4 |
Elliott
Abrams
Senior Director,
National Security
Council, Near East and
North African Affairs |
CC101
Lesson: Outstanding example of
pro-civil-rights, truth-telling angel
(a) "...Controversial political
appointee in the Reagan administration
who later pleaded guilty to lying to Congress regarding
the Iran-Contra scandal, has also opposed the Oslo peace
process and called for Washington to "stand by
Israel,"
rather than act as a neutral mediator between Israel
and the Palestinians...He was indicted by the Iran-Contra
special
prosecutor for giving false testimony about his role
in illicitly raising money for the Contras but pleaded
guilty to two lesser offenses of withholding information
to Congress in order to avoid a trial and a possible
jail term. He was pardoned by President George
H.W. Bush along with a number of other
Iran-Contra defendants in 1992."
(b) "...frequently and angrily with mainstream church
groups
and human rights organisations, including Human Rights
Watch and Amnesty International, who often accused him
of covering up horrendous abuses committed by
U.S.-backed
governments, such as El Salvador and Guatemala, and
rebel forces, such as the Contras and Angola's Unita,
while, at the same time, exaggerating abuses by U.S.
foes..."
(c) "...His credibility for truth-telling was so
low
that at one point he was required to take an oath
before testifying before congressional committees.
Most analysts here believe that he
was given
an NSC post by the new Bush administration because
any other position would have required Senate confirmation...
(our emphasis)"
(d) His law license was suspended
See Alternet,
Tom
Paine, Bear-Left
and DC
Bar (via PLA)
|
Still at
the helm |
| S3 |
John
Ashcroft
Attorney General
Member of
Federalist
Society
|
CC101
Lesson: Outstanding example of
pro-civil-rights,
pro-minorities-rights, pro-women's rights, etc.
2/8/03: Do we even have to say
anything?! Well if we must,
then read this
and this
(slavery support = "states rights"),
here (civil rights), here
(REAL states' rights), here
(women's rights)
etc.
|
Still at
the helm |
| S2 |
Thomas
White,
Secretary of
the Army |
CC101
Lesson: Pro
One
controversy after another - see Village
Voice,
Washington Post (1,
2),
USA
Today, The
Nation:
(a) Held Enron stock after promising to dump them to
avoid conflicts of interest,
(b) Spoke to Enron buddies
before Enron's public
implosion and sold a ton of stock before
implosion,
(c) While Vice-Chairman of Enron Energy Services, his
division
engaged in several illegal practices that are the
subject of
investigations,
(d) Used military jet for personal use,
(e) At
Enron
he lobbied the army for energy deals and
once in the army
he was pushing to get deals for
private energy companies
|
Still going
strong |
| S1 |
Tom
Ridge
Secretary of
Homeland Security |
CC101
Lesson: Pro-economy and pro-jobs
1/27/03: While we
have generally had a "nice
guy" impression
of Tom Ridge so far, we came across this article (through Atrios)
in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that states that Tom Ridge,
when he was
Governor of Pennsylvania, grossly
(and repeatedly) exaggerated the
sales and
job benefits to PA from his foreign trade missions.
|
Still at
the helm. |
OTHER
<go back to the top>
| # |
Name
of Appointee/
Nominee |
Some
interesting/relevant background about the Nominee/Appointee |
Current
status of
nominee/appointee |
| O1 |
B. John
Williams
Chief Counsel, IRS
Asst. Gen. Counsel,
Treasury Dept. |
CC101
Lesson: Pro
Quoting Molly
Ivins:
(a) "...According to The Wall Street
Journal, Williams won
a case that could jeopardize the government's attempts
to crack down on corporate tax havens. The decision
allows
two companies to post the same loss when one sells a
money-losing unit to the other. Sure, that's fair, just the
way you
get to double your deductions, right? If the decision
stands, it is expected to cost the IRS $10 billion in annual
revenue..."
(b) "...In another case, also reported
in the Journal,
B. John Williams (beware the man who parts his initials
on the wrong side) tried to justify disputed tax credits
taken by his client, Shell Oil Co. He did so by hiring a
private investigator, who provided false information to
destroy
the credibility of the government's expert witnesses.
One
witness later sued for defamation, a case that was
settled out of court, the settlement paid for by
Shell..."
Also see CFO.com:
"...Court files obtained by the Journal
provide extensive details of the case, says
the paper, and suggest Williams was an active
participant
in the effort to discredit the IRS witnesses in Shell's
case....
Connaughton eventually filed his defamation suit
in 1996, naming Williams as one of the defendants..." |
Still at
the helm |
Mr.
Bush's comments, via MWO
As is common practice during
his stump speeches, Bush took a veiled jab at President Clinton by
asserting that the Monica Lewinsky scandal has sullied the White
House, and that he was the candidate best suited to "usher in a
new era."
"I think you can judge the nature of a man by the company his
keeps..."
Source
(Bush in Blue Ash, OH)
Mr. Keyes and Mr. Bush
decried what they perceived as the nation's moral decay, with Mr. Bush
declaring, "You can judge the nature of a man by the company he
keeps,'' and noting that his "priority is faith, family and this
great country called America.''
Source
(Bush in Aiken, SC)
"I
know you can judge the character of a man by the company he
keeps," said Bush.
Source (Bush in
Oakland, PA)
$$
Now some of you may complain that we are so biased that we only looked at
the compassionate conservatives he nominated or chose - and ignored the
uncompassionate conservatives, or the compassionate non-conservatives, or
non-compassionate, non-conservatives. Well, it is our view that as long as
there is significant proof that he has nominated at least some
compassionate conservatives, he is indeed compassionate and conservative -
even if the others he has nominated or chosen don't fit the bill. So such
complaints are unfounded and are nothing more than an attempt to obfuscate
our moral clarity.
# We'll be back
after we take a shower.
|