Thursday, August 27, 2009
Bill Gets Off (No, Not That Bill!)
It seems like forever ago, but New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was President Obama's first choice to be commerce secretary. After being nominated in December, he abruptly withdrew a month later when news broke that the there was a federal probe into charges of pay-to-play involving New Mexico officials and companies bidding on state contracts.
Richardson said that he did nothing wrong, but thought it appropriate to take his name out of consideration rather than prove a distraction (Obama then went on to pick Republican Sen. Judd Gregg for the post; he accepted then withdrew when he realized he was, well, a Republican; third time was the charm with the selection of the currently-serving Gary Locke).
Well, now, all of a sudden, comes word that -- POOF! -- Richardson and his staff are in the clear! No one in his office will be facing any indictments. Conveniently enough, this was announced while the governor happens to be on a trade mission to Cuba -- so he's unavailable for comment.
What makes the news even more mysterious is that it was not a case that the convened grand jury chose not to return any charges. No, rather:
The decision not to pursue indictments was made by top Justice Department officials, according to a person familiar with the investigation, who asked not to be identified because federal officials had not disclosed results of the probe.
"It's over. There's nothing. It was killed in Washington," the person told The Associated Press.
Now, there's an interesting use of language -- "top Justice Department officials." That specifically points to political-appointee types -- not career "civil servant" prosecutors -- who chose to "kill" the investigation. Hmmm...
So, the appointees of a Democratic president -- perhaps including the attorney general himself -- chose not to go forward with the prosecution of a Democratic governor and/or his staff. Double "hmmm..."
In the past, such apparent conflicts of interest would create the circumstances for an independent counsel. Of course, both parties allowed the IC law to expire after the perceived excesses of people like Lawrence Walsh (who pursued Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush over Iran-contra) and Ken Starr (who investigated Bill Clinton from Whitewater to Monica Lewinsky).
It goes without saying that, had Richardson taken the Department of Commerce job, it would have been impossible for the Justice Department to just drop the investigation without every political reporter in Washington swooping in like vultures to ask questions. But, with Richardson traveling, the summer doldrums sitting in -- and all political media looking askance at Hyannisport and Boston -- the timing is perfect.
Once everyone starts noticing exactly what happened this week, will the peculiar "Richardson Exoneration" trigger new calls for some sort of outside investigator that would be free of political influence?
Stay tuned.
Labels: Bill Richardson
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Well, That Didn't Take Long...
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is out as Commerce Secretary. "Withdraws" amid a federal investigation of his ties to a California company that won municipal bond contracts in New Mexico. Looks like 2008's Year of Democratic Corruption -- after the GOP cleaned up in the previous couple of years -- will roll over into '09.
As for Obama's "team of rivals"? Maybe not so much.
Labels: Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, corruption
Friday, March 21, 2008
Obama's Not-So-Bad Week
This is a huge political win to end a week which began with Obama taking a major hit.
2) Doug Bandow does a brief round-up of some of those on the right (including, ahem, yours truly) who were quite taken with Obama's speech. Of those Doug mentioned, Abigail Thernstrom -- who has written much on race and is a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights -- is the most significant.
3) Finally, just to prove no one is perfect, after the Imus fiasco last year, don't you think Obama would have learned the wisdom of NOT going on morning show talk radio -- especially if it's on a sports station? His use of the phrase "typical white person" to describe his grandmother's reactions to being fearful of black men qualifies as a gaffe of the first order.
On the other hand, for those people with good memories, it forces an interesting conclusion: Who'd a thunk it -- Jesse Jackson is "a typical white person"!
UPDATE: Charles Murray explains his crush on Obama.
Labels: Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, race
Monday, June 04, 2007
On The Hilltop
Between his disastrous "Meet The Press" appearance two weekends ago and now this debate, Bill Richardson has managed to blow up what was, on paper, a rather promising candidacy. Which is why -- in light of the sports post below -- they don't play the games on paper.
Labels: Bill Richardson, debates, Democratic 2008 Presidential, Hillary Clinton
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Bill Come Due
Check out that video of his.
Richardson makes two important points: 1) He has a broad-based resume as "a Congressman, ambassador to the United Nations and secretary of energy" that shows him with a wealth of EXPERIENCE (attention, Mr. Obama) and 2) His listing of accomplishments as governor demonstrates a executive-level ACCOMPLISHMENT of solving specific problems (attention, SENATOR Clinton). And as a Latino, he can toss in the "first of his type" with both front-runners -- and more foreign policy experience than the two of them combined.
Ragged Thots contributor Madscribe said it best in a Comment yesterday:
The DNC being what it is, the ethnic identity politics of Richardson's presence will be fun to watch (I'm running for the Jiffy Pop as we speak!). He also, being a Clinton Royalist, comes to the table with relatively less baggage than Hillary (except for that little drama at the Energy Department in the late 90s). Plus, being closer to the quasi-free market mentality of the DLC than Obama and being a governor and former Executive Cabinet member, Richardson can claim more gravitas than someone just out of a state legislature with no real record (but a ton of book sales and magazine covers).This should actually be an interesting race (of which we shall all be sick of by mid-summer -- of THIS year!
Richardson's presence will also help to show the divisions among the various racial subsets of the DNC, all of which have their own interests which may or may not align with each other, or the party's greater interests. Asians, Latinos, and Jews do NOT have the same stake in Affirmative Action as Blacks, and Latinos do not see themselves as "Black Democrats with Tan Skin." Obama and all his left-wing black cohorts are going to find out the Latino-vote-for- the-black-guy is not an automatic bet. When Latinos have candidates out of their own community to choose from and support, why should they settle for racial sloppy seconds?
Labels: Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Democratic 2008 Presidential, Hillary Clinton
Saturday, January 20, 2007
The Lady Is A...
So, in less than a week, two historic races for the highest office in the land have been launched. The first woman president or the first black president?
The lady -- or the tiger?
Or when all is said and done, will Democrats opt for the safer -- yet, rather good-looking, relatively young white male (who might fare well in contrast with a GOP candidate who looks like he came in from central casting)?
Or finally, at the end of the day, will the American public just say, "History can wait: Who's the best person, whether man, woman, black or Martian to lead the country in uncertain times?"
By the way, it's easy to see exactly how much oxygen Hillary and Obama suck out of the atmosphere: Yesterday, a certain individual announced his own presidential exploratory committee: In other circumstances , he would be considered to have perfect credentials to run -- and win the Democratic nomination president: He's a governor of a Southwestern "purple" state; accomplished in both official and unofficial foreign diplomacy; he's of Latino heritage.
But what -- i.e. who -- is everyone talking about today? Who will everyone be talking about tomorrow? It won't be the governor of New Mexico. It won't be the senator from Kansas (though those two gentlemen may be able to use previously-scheduled "This Week" interviews to help soak in some reflected media rays).
Labels: Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Democratic 2008 Presidential, GOP 2008 President, Hillary Clinton, Sam Brownback
