February 2008 News History Archives

February 2008 News:
2008 Election

_2008 News News Reference February 2008 News
February 29, 2008 News URL: #February-29-2008-News
20080229 Friday

- US - Religious - Newspaper
"US president's brother visits Paraguay president as guest of Moon-backed group." ... "[Republican] Neil Bush, younger brother of U.S. [Republican] President George W. Bush, called on Paraguay's president as the guest of a business federation allied with the Rev. [Reverend ] Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church." ... "A presidential press office source, who spoke on condition of not being named, confirmed the younger Bush met President Nicanor Duarte on Thursday along with a delegation from the Universal Peace Federation, a group associated with Moon." ... "Groups allied with Moon publish a newspaper, operate businesses and have large land holdings in Paraguay, South America's second-poorest country." -AP via -IHT.com

- British - Afghanistan - US - Military - Safety - Secrecy - Politics
"Prince's cover in Afghanistan blown by Drudge Report." ... "An American website, the Drudge Report, broke a news blackout yesterday by revealing that Prince Harry has been serving in Afghanistan for more than two months." ... "To the fury of the Ministry of Defence and condemnation from the head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, the website announced a "world exclusive" and proclaimed: "They're calling him 'Harry the Hero!"." ... "The article brought to an end an agreement with the media that the Prince's deployment to Helmand be kept quiet in the interests of his safety and that of the soldiers with him." ... "The decision to send Prince Harry, 23, to Afghanistan under a cloak of secrecy came after the furore that followed the revelation of his proposed deployment to Iraq. Much to the Prince's frustration, General Dannatt announced in May last year that it would be too risky, fearing the Prince and his comrades in the Household Cavalry would become top priority targets for insurgents." ... "Immediately, officers decided the only way the third-in-line to the throne could continue to do his duty without creating an additional security risk was to send him secretly, calling on the media to co-operate in a news blackout." -By Terri Judd -Independent.co.uk

- Barack Obama - Tim Russert - John McCain - John Hagee - Religious - Homosexual - Woman - Racist - Book - History - Media - Politics -  - 2008 Election - Illinois - Arizona - Arkansas - Texas - US - Israel - Germany
"Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain's embrace of Hagee's support as it did to Obama's rejection of Farrakhan?" ... "Summary: On February 27, MSNBC devoted significant coverage to an exchange from the most recent Democratic presidential debate in which NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert repeatedly questioned [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama about praise he received from controversial minister Louis Farrakhan, whose statements Obama has denounced. The same day, Pastor John Hagee -- who has made controversial comments about homosexuality, Islam, Catholicism, and women -- endorsed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, who embraced Hagee's support. Hagee's endorsement and McCain's response to it raise the question of whether MSNBC will report on them as extensively as it did on Farrakhan's praise." ... "A March 7, 1996, article (accessed via the Nexis database) in the San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported:"

"Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church [in Texas], last week had announced a "slave sale" to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, "The Cluster."" ... "The item was introduced with the sentence "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave.""

"To help students seeking odd jobs, his church newsletter, The Cluster, advertised a "slave" sale. "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone," it said. "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." Mr. Hagee apologized but, in a radio interview, protested about pressure to be "politically correct" and joked that perhaps his pet dog should be called a "canine American.""

"In his recent book "Jerusalem Countdown," Hagee wrote: "Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.""

- US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Torture - Prison - Psychology - Book - Political - History
"How Good People Turn Evil, From Stanford to Abu Ghraib." ... "[Psychologist Philip] Zimbardo conducted a now-famous experiment at Stanford University in 1971, involving students who posed as prisoners and guards. Five days into the experiment, Zimbardo halted the study when the student guards began abusing the prisoners, forcing them to strip naked and simulate sex acts." ... "His book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, explores how a "perfect storm" of conditions can make ordinary people commit horrendous acts." ... "Wired: You were an expert defense witness in the court-martial of Sgt. Chip Frederick, an Abu Ghraib guard. What were the situational influences in his case?" ... "Zimbardo: Abu Ghraib was under bombardment all the time. In the prison, five soldiers and 20 Iraqi prisoners get killed. That means automatically any soldier working there is under high fear and high stress. Then the insurgency starts in 2003, and they start arresting everyone in sight. When Chip Frederick [starts working at Abu Ghraib] in September, there are 200 prisoners there. Within three months there's a thousand prisoners with a handful of guards to take care of them, so they're overwhelmed. Frederick and the others worked 12-hour shifts. How many days a week? Seven. How many days without a day off? Forty. That kind of stress reduces decision-making and critical thinking and rationality. But that's only the beginning." ... "He [complained] to higher-ups on the record, "We have mentally ill patients who cover themselves with [excrement]. We have people with tuberculosis that shouldn't be in this population. We have kids mixed with adults."" ... "And they tell him, "It's a war zone. Do your job. Do whatever you have to do."" ... "Wired: How did what happened at Abu Ghraib compare to your Stanford prison study?" ... "Zimbardo: The military intelligence, the CIA and the civilian interrogator corporation, Titan, told the MPs [at Abu Ghraib], "It is your job to soften the prisoners up. We give you permission to do something you ordinarily are not allowed to do as a military policeman -- to break the prisoners, to soften them up, to prepare them for interrogation." That's permission to step across the line from what is typically restricted behavior to now unrestricted behavior." ... "In the same way in the Stanford prison study, I was saying [to the student guards], "You have to be powerful to prevent further rebellion." I tell them, "You're not allowed, however, to use physical force." By default, I allow them to use psychological force. In five days, five prisoners are having emotional breakdowns." ... "The situational forces that were going on in [Abu Ghraib] -- the dehumanization, the lack of personal accountability, the lack of surveillance, the permission to get away with anti-social actions -- it was like the Stanford prison study, but in spades." ... "Those sets of things are found any time you really see an evil situation occurring, whether it's Rwanda or Nazi Germany or the Khmer Rouge. " (1, 2) -By Kim Zetter -Wired

- Barack Obama - Tim Russert - John McCain - John C Hagee - Religious - Racist - Political - Journalist - 2008 Election - Hurricane Katrina - Homosexual - New Orleans - Louisiana - Texas
"Some hateful, radical ministers -- white evangelicals -- are acceptable." ... "One of this week's hysterical press scandals was that Minister Louis Farrakhan praised [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama's candidacy even though Obama had previously denounced numerous Farrakhan remarks and the Obama campaign did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise. Nonetheless, [MSNBC TV political journalist] Tim Russert demanded that Obama jump through multiple hoops to prove that he has no connection to -- and, in fact, "rejects" -- the ideas espoused by Farrakhan deemed to be radical and hateful." ... "Yesterday, though, the equally fringe, radical and hateful (at least) [Reverend] Rev. John Hagee -- a white evangelical who is the pastor of a sprawling "mega-church" in Texas -- enthusiastically endorsed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate]] John McCain. Did McCain have to jump through the same hoops which Russert and others set up for Obama and "denounce" Hagee's extremism and "reject" his support? No; quite the opposite. McCain said he was "very honored" to receive this endorsement and, when asked about some of Hagee's more twisted views, responded: "all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support."" ... "McCain's sainted supporter, [Connecticut Independent Democrat Senator] Joe Lieberman, last year spoke to Hagee's group and lavished him with such obsequious praise that Lieberman actually compared Hagee, favorably, to Moses. Why is Louis Farrakhan deemed by our political establishment to be so radioactive as to not be fit for good company -- black candidates are required to repudiate his support even when they haven't sought it and denounce his views even when they've never advocated anything close to those views -- but John Hagee is a perfectly acceptable figure whom mainstream GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] politicians are free to court without any consequences or media objections?" ... "From an NPR interview Hagee gave to Terry Gross in 2006:"

"TG [Terry Gross]: If you use the Bible as the basis for policy, is there any room for compromise? And if you use the bible as the basis for policy, should Muslims use the Koran as the basis for their policy, and then again, what possible basis is there for compromise at that point?" ... "JH [John Hagee]: There is really no room for compromise between radical Islam --" ... "TG [Terry Gross]: I'm not talking about radical Islam. I'm just talking about Islam in general." ... "JH [John Hagee]: Well Islam in general -- those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews."
...
"JH [John Hagee]: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans [Louisiana] had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." ... "The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades." ... "So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."

- Barack Obama - Tim Russert - Hillary Clinton - John McCain - John C Hagee - Religious - Politician - Journalist - Texas - 2008 Election
"Farrakhan's Support For Obama? Hugely Controversial. Hagee's Backing Of McCain? No Problem." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama was questioned at Tuesday night's debate by [MSNBC TV political journalist] Tim Russert and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton about repudiating Louis Farrakhan's endorsement — which Obama said was unsolicited — in the strongest terms possible. He was repeatedly badgered by Russert, and was forced to disown Farrakhan over and over again." ... "The very next day, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain appeared onstage in Texas with Pastor John Hagee, an influential activist in the Christian Zionist movement. Hagee's comments about world affairs can make Farrakhan seem pedestrian at times: He eagerly awaits the Armageddon, considers the Catholic Church to be the Anti-Christ, and has said that Jews brought their own persecution upon themselves." ... "[WATCHMax Blumenthal's report at John Hagee's conference Christians United For Israel.]" ... "On the right, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League is objecting Hagee's extremist writings, particularly his denunciations of the Catholic Church. For example, Donohue pointed to instances in which Hagee has referred to the Catholic Church as, "The Great Whore," an "apostate church," the "anti-Christ," and a "false cult system."" ... "So here's the question: Will the same media outlets who have hammered Barack Obama about Louis Farrakhan's uninvited endorsement now ask John McCain to denounce and reject the support of John Hagee, which was actually sought and publicly accepted?" -By Eric Kleefeld -TalkingPointsMemo.com

- John McCain - John C Hagee - Politician - Arizona - Texas - 2008 Election
"McCain Endorsement Angers Catholic League President." ... "The president of the Catholic League today blasted [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain for accepting the endorsement of Texas evangelicalist John Hagee, calling the controversial pastor a bigot who has "waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church."" ... "Catholics United, a national online group, also blasted McCain over the endorsement. "By receiving the endorsement of an outspoken critic of the Catholic Church, McCain once again demonstrates that he is willing to sell out his principles for a chance to win the Presidency," said Chris Korzen, Executive Director of Catholics United in a statement." -By Michael D. Shear -WashingtonPost

- Corporate - Government - Telecom - Amnesty - Politics - Surveillance - Intelligence - Data - US - Foreign
"If we punish lawbreaking, they might not break the law again." ... "[Republican President] GEORGE BUSH held a press conference this morning to discuss a variety of issues, but above all to hammer House Democrats for failing to hold a vote on reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act already approved in the Senate, including retroactive civil immunity for telecoms that participated in the National Security Agency's extrajudicial eavesdropping programme. And again, the president articulated an argument that has never made any sense to me, for all that it has been repeated:"

[Bush:] "You can't expect the phone companies to participate if they feel that they are going to be sued... How can you listen to the enemy if the phone compnaies aren't going to particiapte with you?"

- Prison - History - Race - Women - People - Money - Politics
"1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says." ... "For the first time in the nation’s history, more than one in 100 American adults is behind bars, according to a new report." ... "Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million. Another 723,000 people are in local jails. The number of American adults is about 230 million, meaning that one in every 99.1 adults is behind bars." ... "Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 Hispanic adults is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 black adults is, too, as is one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34." ... "The report, from the Pew Center on the States, also found that only one in 355 white women between the ages of 35 and 39 are behind bars but that one in 100 black women are." ... "With money from bonds and the federal government included, total state spending on corrections last year was $49 billion." -By Adam Liptak -NYTimes

_2008 News News Reference February 2008 News
February 27, 2008 News URL: #February-27-2008-News
20080227 Wednesday

- Karl Rove - Political - Government - Computer - E-Mails - Communications - Archives - Laws - Presidential Records Act Law - Hatch Act Law - History - Data - Censorship - Investigation
"GOP Halts Effort to Retrieve White House E-Mails." ... "After promising last year to search its computers for tens of thousands of e-mails sent by [Republican President Bush] White House officials, the Republican National Committee has informed a House committee that it no longer plans to retrieve the communications by restoring computer backup tapes, the panel's chairman said yesterday." ... "The move increases the likelihood that an untold number of RNC [RNC=Republican National Committee=Republican Party] e-mails dealing with official White House business during the first term of the Bush administration -- including many sent or received by former [Republican President Bush] presidential adviser Karl Rove -- will never be recovered, said House Democrats and public records advocates." ... "Administration officials have acknowledged that Rove and many other White House officials routinely used RNC accounts for government business, despite rules [Laws: the Presidential Records Act Law and the Hatch Act Law] requiring that they conduct such business through official communications channels. The RNC deleted all e-mails until 2004, when it exempted White House officials from its e-mail purging policy." ... "About 80 White House aides used RNC accounts for official government business, committee staff members said. Rove, for example, sent or received 140,000 e-mails on RNC servers from 2002 to 2007, and more than half involved official ".gov" accounts, the panel has said." ... "The RNC dispute is part of a broader debate over whether the Bush administration has complied with long-standing statutory requirements to preserve official White House records -- including those reflecting potentially sensitive policy discussions -- for history and in case of future legal demands." ... "The committee is investigating allegations that vast stores of official Bush administration e-mails have also gone missing from the White House, which scrapped a [former Democratic President] Clinton-era archiving system and has struggled with data retention problems." -By Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

- John McCain - Money - Politics - Law - 2008 Election
"Ah, Reform." ... "As a refresher, here's what [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain thinks should be allowable. Candidate enters the race. Candidate experiences fundraising difficulties. Candidate signs up to receive primary campaign public funds, knowing full well that this will commit him to abide by spending limits during the pre-convention period. Candidate uses promise of public funding to help secure a loan for his campaign. Candidate uses loaned funds to help wrap up the nomination well before the convention. Having become his party's nominee, the candidate's fundraising woes are gone. Candidate notes that he hasn't yet spent any public funds (merely used the promise that they would be forthcoming to secure a loan and spent the loaned funds) so asserts that he can decline to accept them, decline to abide by spending limits, and repay the loan and finance the rest of the campaign with the now-forthcoming special interest cash." -By Matthew Yglesias -TheAtlantic.com

- Barack Obama - John McCain - US -Iraq - Military - Osama bin Laden - Terrorism - 2008 Election - Ohio
"Obama also has news for McCain." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama departed from his regular stump speech today in Columbus [Ohio's capital] to respond to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain." ... ""John McCain may like to say he wants to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but so far all he’s done is follow George Bush into a misguided war in Iraq," he said." ... ""McCain thought that he could make a clever point by saying, 'Well let me give you some news, Barack, Al Qaeda is in Iraq,' like I wasn’t reading the papers, like [I] didn’t know what was going on." Obama said, leaning into his developing McCain impression." ... "He then described the context -- a hypothetical question from Tim Russert -- and said, "First of all, I do know Al Qaeda is in Iraq, and that’s why I said we should continue to strike Al Qaeda targets."" ... ""I have some news for John McCain," Obama continued, "That’s there was no Al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain" began the Iraq war, he said." ... ""They took their eye off the people who really were responsible for 9/11," he said." -By Ben Smith -Politico.com

- US - EU - Swiss - UK - New York - Oil
"Dollar slides to new lows after Fed warning." ... "There were records for the euro, which climbed as high as $1.5143 by midday in New York, and the Swiss franc, which hit SFr1.0624. Sterling, which had earlier fallen against the dollar due to weak UK [United Kingdom] growth data, Came back up to $1.9921." ... "The dollar index, a measure of the US [United States] unit’s strength against a basket of currencies, fell to a record low of 74.181. " ... "Oil prices also hit records. Nymex West Texas intermediate soared to $102.08, before edging back to $101.25. Brent crude rose to $100.53 as investors hedged against the weaker dollar." ... "Gold, which is often used as a hedge against inflation when oil prices rise, hit a fresh peak of $964.70 a troy ounce, and helped lift other precious metals. Silver rose to $19.43 its highest level since November 1980." -By Neil Dennis and Krishna Guha -FT.com

- US - Iraq - Afghanistan
"Post-drawdown troop levels will still be high." ... "When the current drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq is complete in July, about 140,000 should remain, a senior U.S. [United States] military official said Monday — 8,000 more than were present at the January 2007 start of the administration’s “surge” of five brigade combat teams aimed at helping stabilize Iraq." ... "Those 8,000 troops represent a sort of safety margin for U.S. ground commanders as they assess the U.S. ability to handle security demands across Iraq, such as backing up U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Teams and Iraqi forces, with five fewer combat units on hand, said [Lieutenant General] Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, the Joint Staff’s director for operations." ... "U.S. officials also project that about 32,000 U.S. troops will be stationed in Afghanistan “by late summer,” Ham said. That would be the highest level ever — an increase of about 4,000 troops over the current level. Most of these will come from the 3,200 additional Marines being deployed there this spring, he said." ... "Both figures, however, are estimates that will depend on security conditions on the ground, Ham said." -By William H. McMichael -AirForceTimes.com

- US - Iraq - Military - MRAP - Vehicles - Investigation - Government - Politics
"Marines halt study critical of MRAP program." ... "The Marine Corps has ordered a civilian scientist to stop work on a report critical of its efforts to obtain new armored vehicles, saying he exceeded his authority, a Marine official said Tuesday." ... "Franz Gayl, a retired Marine officer and civilian science adviser, alleged in a Jan. 22 report that "gross mismanagement" of the program to quickly field Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles had resulted in the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of Marines in Iraq. Gayl had planned to continue his investigation." ... "Gayl's report was first made public by the Associated Press on Feb. 15. The report said Marine procurement officers spurned requests from commanders in Iraq for blast-resistant vehicles because they didn't want to derail other projects." ... "PROBE: Pentagon urged to investigate MRAP report." ... "MRAP REPORT: Lack of vehicles cost Marine lives." ... "FULL COVERAGE: Troops at Risk: IEDs in Iraq." -By Tom Vanden Brook -USATODAY

- Stephen Johnson - Environmental - Politics - California - Transportation - Auto - Makers -Emissions - Law - Health - Science - Clean Air Act - Enforcement
"Documents: EPA chief warned not to deny California on emission standard." ... "A Environmental Protection Agency official warned her boss, [Republican President Bush's] EPA chief Stephen Johnson, that if he denied California's bid to enforce its own tailpipe emissions rules, the agency's credibility "will be irreparably damaged" and Johnson would have to think about resigning." ... "Margot Oge, the head of EPA's office of transportation and air quality, also told Administrator Johnson in an Oct. 17 memo that "there is no legal or technical justification for denying this," despite "alternative interpretations that have been suggested by the automakers."" ... "These internal warnings were included in EPA documents released Tuesday by [California Democratic Senator] Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who chairs the Environment Committee and had requested the records." ... "Johnson turned down California's request for a waiver from the Clean Air Act on [2007 December] Dec. 19, after months of review. He overruled the recommendations of senior staff members, according to several media reports, and the documents released Tuesday provide some examples." ... ""The documents show the dedicated, professional staff working hard to protect our health and our environment," Boxer said. "We see more and more evidence of Administrator Johnson ignoring the science and the facts, and discarding the advice of his staff."" -By Frank Davies -MercuryNews.com

- China - Sports - Industry - People - Environment - Politics
"Olympics water diversion threatens millions." ... "The diversion of water to Beijing [China] for the Olympics and for big hydropower projects threatens the lives of millions of peasant farmers in China’s north-western provinces, according to a senior Chinese government official." ... "In an interview with the Financial Times, An Qiyuan, a member and former chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee for Shaanxi province and former Communist party chief of Shaanxi, warned of an impending social and environmental disaster because of overuse of scarce water resources." ... "Beijing will need an estimated 300m cubic metres of additional water just to flush out the polluted and stagnant rivers, canals and lakes in its central areas to put on a clean, environmentally-friendly face for Olympic visitors, according to municipal officials." -By Jamil Anderlini -FT.com

- John McCain - Jack Abramoff - Bob Riley - Tom DeLay - Bob Ney - Money - Politics - Investigation - Law - EMail - Alabama - Louisiana - Mississippi - Arizona - Texas - Ohio - History - 2002 Election - 2006 Election - 2008 Election
"McCain Withheld Controversial Abramoff Email." ... "In the 2006 Senate report concerning [Republican Lobbyist Jack] Abramoff's activities, which [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain spearheaded, the Arizona Republican conspicuously left out information detailing how Alabama [Republican Governor] Gov. Bob Riley was targeted by Abramoff's influence peddling scheme. Riley, a Republican, won election in November 2002, and was reelected in 2006." ... "In a December 2002 email [PDF] obtained by the Huffington Post -- which McCain and his staff had access to prior to the issuance of his report -- Abramoff explains to an aide what he would like to see Riley do in return for the "help" he received from Abramoff's tribal clients." ... "An official with the Mississippi Choctaws "definitely wants Riley to shut down the Poarch Creek operation," Abramoff wrote, "including his announcing that anyone caught gambling there can't qualify for a state contract or something like that."" ... "The note showed not only the reach of Abramoff, but raised questions about Riley's victory in what was the closest gubernatorial election in Alabama history." ... "And yet, despite the implications of the information, McCain and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee sat on the controversial portion of the email. According to an official familiar with the investigation, McCain also subsequently refused to make the email public after the report was released." ... "There was a brief footnote in the report that quoted William Worfel, former vice chairman of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, saying that Abramoff told the chief of a Mississippi tribe to spend $13 million "to get the governor of Alabama elected to keep gaming out of Alabama so it wouldn't hurt ... his market in Mississippi."" ... "But Riley's name and the details of what was being asked of him were not mentioned once in the 373-page document." ... "Indeed, as the Associated Press noted in 2006, McCain stayed deliberately agnostic as to Riley's involvement." ... ""Although Sen. McCain has long bragged of his role in the Abramoff investigation, he let [former Texas Republican Representative] Tom DeLay and the other members of Congress who were doing Abramoff's bidding completely off the hook. The sole exception was [former Ohio Republican Representative] Rep. Bob Ney, who served time in prison," Melanie Sloan, Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics In Washington told the Huffington Post recently. "Sen. McCain knew what his colleagues were up to, he chose to take the easier path and give them a free pass."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

- Rick Renzi - John McCain - Money - Legislation - Arizona - Real Estate - 2008 Election
"Renzi Says He Won’t Resign." ... "Representative Rick Renzi, the Arizona Republican who was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on 35 corruption charges, issued a statement on Monday saying that he would not resign despite signals from Republican leaders in Congress that they would welcome his swift departure." ... "Mr. Renzi had been serving as a Arizona state co-chairman of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator John McCain’s campaign for president." ... "A grand jury last week indicted Mr. Renzi on a raft of corruption charges, including fraud, money laundering and extortion. Prosecutors charged that Mr. Renzi pressured constituents to purchase land from his business partner in exchange for his support for legislation that the constituents needed. At least $733,000 in proceeds from the land sale were funneled back to Mr. Renzi, according to the indictment." ... "Prosecutors also said that Mr. Renzi and a partner in an insurance firm that he owned swindled clients, many of them non-profit organizations, by selling them policies and then stealing the premiums." -By David M. Herszenhorn -NYTimes

- Don Siegelman - Karl Rove - Criminal - US Attorneys - Law - Politics - Secret - Spying - Intelligence - 2002 Election - 2006 Election - Prison
"Did Ex-Alabama Governor [Don Siegelman] Get A Raw Deal? 60 Minutes Reports On Bribery Conviction Of [former Alabama Democratic Governor] Don Siegelman In A Case Criticized by Democrats And Republicans." [WATCH: "The Prosecution of Siegelman." via 60 Minutes] ... "Is Don Siegelman in prison because he’s a criminal or because he belonged to the wrong political party in Alabama? Siegelman is the former governor of Alabama, and he was the most successful Democrat in that Republican state. But while he was governor, the U.S. Justice Department launched multiple investigations that went on year after year until, finally, a jury convicted Siegelman of bribery." ... "Now, many Democrats and Republicans have become suspicious of the Justice Department’s motivations. As correspondent Scott Pelley reports, 52 former state attorneys-general have asked Congress to investigate whether the prosecution of Siegelman was pursued not because of a crime but because of politics." ... "“I haven't seen a case with this many red flags on it that pointed towards a real injustice being done,” says Grant Woods, the former Republican attorney general of Arizona." ... "“I personally believe that what happened here is that they targeted Don Siegelman because they could not beat him fair and square. This was a Republican state and he was the one Democrat they could never get rid of,” Woods says." ...

[DON SIEGELMAN, former Alabama Governor]

TV: [WATCH: "The Prosecution of Siegelman." via 60 Minutes]