Guide to the Upcoming Rebellion: Part 1:
Clinton's Last Lesson
By: Vindictive | 25January2001
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It shall forever remain unreported whether William Jefferson Clinton flushed or left a big healthy
surprise for Dubya to discover as he left the presidential shitter for the last time. Nonetheless,
His Lordship -- Stainer of Gap Dresses -- did pause during his last day in office to leave one
last turd for America. That particular brown trout came in the form of pardons for 140 of his
friends, the influential and the elite.
Marc Rich, a billionaire oil trader was about to be indicted for tax evasion and racketeering in 1983 when he left the US for Switzerland. Rich made huge profits through an illegal oil pricing scheme and was accused of making deals with Iran during the US embassy hostage crisis in Tehran. However, it is hard to argue that poor Rich didn't deserve a little special attention, stuck over in that third-world nation there with nothing but his money. Fortunately, his ex-wife has been busy hosting fundraisers for Clinton and other Democrats, and contributed more than $600,000 to their causes. Fortunately, Marc Rich had the foresight to hire attorney Jack Quinn -- who once worked for Clinton -- to help him get that pardon. Good Old Boy ex-CIA chief John Deutch -- who ignored secrecy requirements and took classified files home -- got his pardon. Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros, Bill's brother Roger Clinton (convicted of a drug charge), and Susan McDougal all got pardons. Of course, Clinton is not the only politician -- nor will he be the last -- to help give family, friends or influential, wealthy associates breaks that are denied to regular citizens. When George H.W. Bush was in office, he got his friends in the oil business to reward one of his sons -- George W. -- for running Arbusto Energy into the ground. Bush Junior was made the president of Spectrum 7 Energy Corporation, which bought out Arbusto. When Spectrum 7 also got into financial trouble, it was purchased by Harken Energy Corporation, for which Junior got lots of stock at a discount, a salary as a consultant, and the right to borrow money from Harken which he never had to pay back.
In 1994, reporters grilled John and Cindy McCain and federal prosecutors about whether the senator's wife received special treatment when she was allowed to apply for a diversion program rather than face prosecution for stealing painkillers from an international medical charity she headed.
Any American citizen with enough literary skill to read history and current news for a few months knows that the US started out as something quite different than it is now. The modern United States is where the influential, the politically-connected and the moneyed are entitled to more justice than the poor and the middle class can afford. Compare the current state of affairs with what Thomas Paine wrote in 1795: In a state of nature all men are equal in rights, but they are not equal in power; the weak cannot protect themselves against the strong. This being the case, the institution of civil society is for the purpose of making an equalization of powers that shall be parallel to, and a guarantee of, the equality of rights. The laws of a country, when properly constructed, apply to this purpose. |
Vice President Dick Cheney did the influence bit for Gawd And Country in 1987 when he was
vice-chairman of the committee that investigated the Iran-Contra scandal. After three months
of hearings, he wrote: "there is no evidence that the president had any knowledge of the
diversion of profits from the arms sale to the Nicaraguan democratic resistance." Of course
there wasn't!
Senator John McCain, recently reformed into Mister Campaign Financial Reform was one of
the Keating Five -- congressmen investigated on ethics charges for helping convicted racketeer
Charles Keating in exchange for large campaign contributions.
Dan Burton Jr., the son of U.S. Representative Dan Burton (R-IN), was arrested in Louisiana for
transporting nearly eight pounds of marijuana in the trunk of his car. Six months later, Burton
was arrested again in Indianapolis, where police found thirty marijuana plants and a shotgun
with ammunition in his apartment. Federal prosecutors declined to prosecute the case.
When Claude Shelby -- son of US Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama -- arrived in the US on a
flight from London with 13.8 grams of hashish, he was issued a $500 fine. He paid the fine
on the spot.
Congressman Randy Cunningham from California has been an anti-drug crusader during most of his
political life, even pushing for the death penalty for so-called "drug kingpins". When his own
son, Todd, was charged with smuggling marijuana with intent to distribute [does 400 pounds of it
make him a 'kingpin'?], Congressman Cunningham persuaded the judge to ignore the mandatory
minimum sentence of five years, and gave him a 2 ½ year sentence. Todd Cunningham would have
gotten an even smaller sentence, except he kept testing positive for cocaine while on bail.
However, the father vouched for the son, saying "He has a good heart. He works hard."
When Morgan Grams, the 21-year-old son of Senator Rod Grams of Minnesota was stopped by sheriff's
deputies with ten bags of marijuana in his car, he wasn't arrested, nor even questioned by the
deputy (who knew who the kid's father was). Willie Wichman -- a juvenile in the car -- was
arrested, convicted of felony marijuana possession and jailed. To ex-Senator Grams' credit,
he acknowledged that his son has "drug problems".
Alex Ashcroft -- nephew of Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft -- received a felony
conviction in Missouri in 1992 for growing 60 marijuana plants "with intent to distribute".
His uncle was Missouri's governor at the time. Although growing more than 50 plants usually triggers
federal prosecution and jail time (thanks to mandatory minimum sentencing laws Ashcroft fought
to toughen as senator) Alex was prosecuted on a state charge and received probation.