Hugh Hewitt Mega-Ping!
Posted on 05/08/2002 12:16:17 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Although California's elites are enjoying the latest of the many pratfalls of Gray Davis – truly the worst governor in the state's history – don't expect RAMscam to become a Watergate or a Whitewater. The elements are all there, certainly, including the huge waste of public funds, a lobbyist handing $25,000 to the Gov's guy after the contract was signed with Oracle, shredding of documents, and an accusation of pressure brought to bear by the Davis team on state legislators poking among the ruins of the $95 million dollar database "deal" with the software giant.
"Deploracle!" said one caller to my program last week as we explored possible titles for Geekgate (or Databacle or GoldenStateGate). It was Friday, and the lines were jammed with participants from coast to coast. Davis' reputation as a legendary incompetent, forged in the power meltdown of last year, has earned him a national following, along the lines of a Joe Btfsplk cult.
Davis did not disappoint. His spokesman mounted a unique defense: Davis is too dumb to be involved. Davis "is mystified by technology," according to spokesman Steve Maviglio. Davis doubled down on that line of denial the following day, allowing as how he didn't even know where the onramp to the information highway was located.
This is amusing. The nation's technology-driven state is itself driven by a self-professed know-nothing. And he's proud of it too!
The key question remains: "What did the governor know, and when did he charge for it?" Davis shook down the state's prison guard union for a quarter-million campaign fund donation after he awarded them billions in raises earlier this year, so the arc of the Geekgate story is well known. So is its ending: It will fade away. Davis is a corrupt, favors-for-campaign-dollars hack. But we know that. Everyone knows that. And the papers don't care, and the television stations don't have Sacramento bureaus, and the head of the "investigation" is California Attorney General Bill Lockyer – the fourth monkey in the line that reads "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." Lockyer's part is to prosecute no evil.
Which shouldn't surprise. Pressed on whether his own campaign's $50,000 contribution from Oracle should lead him to recuse himself, Lockyer focused on the donation and replied honestly that not only would he not step aside, but that "I was wishing there was more."
Imagine if John Ashcroft had not recused himself from the Enron investigation – which he did – but instead had said his only regret was that he hadn't gotten more from Enron. Would the Washington, D.C., press corps have dismissed the statement as the Los Angeles Times did? (The Times labeled Lockyer's reply a quip and placed it as the last sentence of the story – which may explain why that paper has been beaten like a bongo on Oracle for months and months by the Sacramento Bee and the San Jose Mercury News.)
Lockyer is the famously ill-equipped head of the criminal-justice system in California. I interviewed him during the course of his first campaign and asked the simple question as to which side of the room the prosecutor stands, and Lockyer didn't know – so you get the picture. But he's hanging onto this investigation, though a federal prosecutor would be much better positioned to handle the matter. Lockyer's decision to take control means Davis is already out of the woods.
Could the State Legislature ride in as it did when California's then insurance commissioner was accused of wrongdoing a few years back? At that time, the State House crowd hired special counsel and scheduled weeks of under-oath hearings. The legislators could follow that plan again, but they won't. The insurance commissioner was a Republican – Davis is head of the Dems. End of story. Look for a couple of face-saving hearings dominated by softballs, and a report blaming consultants.
The central fact remains, however, that the Davis man who negotiated the deal that gave a windfall to Oracle then had dinner with the Oracle lobbyist during which the lobbyist gave a check to the Davis man for the Davis campaign. How many times has this sort of thing happened in Sacramento in the last three plus years? Why won't Davis release his schedule of fund-raising events? Why won't the Legislature put Gary South, the governor's top adviser, under oath and under some heavy questioning? Why does the Los Angeles Times write story after story on Bill Simon's campaign and next-to-nothing on Davis?
Because it's a Third World banana republic in Sacramento, with a Fourth World press and a fifth-rate attorney general.
Don't expect the scandal to have legs. That would require someone in Sacramento to have some integrity.
Davis is a corrupt, favors-for-campaign-dollars hack.
The ninty's, the decade of the corrupt politicians. They should be very afraid. The electorate is awake now.
Some of us are calling this Oraclegate!
calgov2002:
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You're welcome, amigo - and thanks for bumping and pinging the thread =^)
"...The key question remains: "What did the governor know, and when did he charge for it?" Davis shook down the state's prison guard union for a quarter-million campaign fund donation after he awarded them billions in raises earlier this year, so the arc of the Geekgate story is well known. So is its ending: It will fade away.From http://www.softguides.com/tokyo/trips/nikko.html:Davis is a corrupt, favors-for-campaign-dollars hack. But we know that. Everyone knows that. And the papers don't care, and the television stations don't have Sacramento bureaus, and the head of the "investigation" is California Attorney General Bill Lockyer – the fourth monkey in the line that reads "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."
Lockyer's part is to prosecute no evil..." - Hugh Hewitt
(If you want OFF - or ON - my "Hugh Hewitt PING list" - please let me know)
"Shogun" Duane?Three monkeys - the "See no evil," "Say no evil" and "Hear no evil" trio - are among the most famous masterpieces of the Toshogu sculptures"...Nikko Toshogu, built in 1636, is the mausoleum of the Shogun (Generalissimo) Tokugawa Ieyasu who put an end to the Sengoku civil war period (1467 - 1568) and laid the foundation for the 250-year period of peace leading up to the Meiji Restoration of 1868..."
This says it all:
Because it's a Third World banana republic in Sacramento, with a Fourth World press and a fifth-rate attorney general.
Don't expect the scandal to have legs. That would require someone in Sacramento to have some integrity.
The Rats in Sacramento are arrogant criminal fascists, who line their pockets with our money with no fear while breaking the very laws that they put on the books.
They are in bed with the Fishwrap Editors/Publishers/Owners and those leftists who control the tv stations in Kali land. Then Lockyer makes Jake Reno look like an honest AG!
The way those who use criminal Fascism or socialism activites without fear is to control the pressitutes in the media and the top law enforcement officials.
They saw what the Clintoon was able to get by with during his raping and pillaging of America. He had the pressitutes in bed with him, and his favorite It, Jake Reno controlled the Justice department and the FBI! There was nothing that the Clintoon could do, that would endanger his presidency thanks to the pimps/Wh$res in the media and the Jake Renoits.
GW AND DICK CHENEY DID IT!
SIMON DID IT!
I'M INNOCENT! I'VE BEEN FRAMED!
GSA/LOGICON DID IT!
I KNOW NOTHING!
I SAW NOTHING! HEARD NOTHING! I SAID NOTHING, BUT GIVE ME MO MONEY TO STOP THE SIMON JUGGERNAUT!
IF I DID ANYTHING, IT WAS TO SAVE ABORTION, THE GAY AGENDA, ILLEGAL ALIENS AND FOR THE STARVING CHILRUN!
This is of course HUGELY ironic isn't it? It was DAVIS who "negotiated" a disastrous energy deal, and now, his spokesman admits Davis is too dumb to understand technology. Naturally, we wish that Davis had been honest enough with himself and the public to understand just how stupid he was and left the energy problem to experts. It doesn't help us now - that someone very close to Davis admits that Davis is stupid.
Another thing of note, there was evidence of law-breaking in the matter of documents shredding. A Federal trial is now underway regarding criminal charges against Arthur Anderson, and shredding of documents is a serious offense being prosecuted. I wonder if FEINSTEIN will be "ballsy" enough to call for a Federal criminal investigation of the law breaking in the Oracle mess like she did for Enron.
Also, imagine what would happen to a major corporation which produced a product which caused great economic harm to consumers and the economy. And what if that corporation mounted a defense that it's engineers and workforce were too stupid to understand what they were doing. Needless to say the corporation would be sued out of business in short order, as incompetency and stupidity would be no defense in any given court of law. However, when we are harmed by the RATS, incompetence and stupidty on THEIR part are understandable and tolerated by the courts.
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