Tag Archives: Bill Richardson

Another Obama Pick Should Withdraw His Name

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MIM President Rob Peters

MIM President Rob Peters

The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled hearings tomorrow to examine the nomination of David Ogden, President Barack Obama’s choice for Deputy Attorney General. According to a news release from Morality in Media, Mr. Ogden has a long history of making “ACLU-minded” arguments in court cases involving obscene materials, harmful-to-minors materials, and child pornography.  That in mind, he should withdraw his name and join Tom Daschle, Bill Richardson and several others on the list of presidential appointees gone bad.

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, then-candidate Obama told a nationwide television audience watching the Saddleback Civil Forum Aug. 16 that curbing human trafficking must be “a top priority” and also told TIME (See “The Candidates of Faith”, Aug. 7, 2008) there are a “range of moral-values issues that must be addressed in our families, our communities…But we can’t just talk about ‘family values.’ We actually have to stand up for policies that value families.” As a U.S. Senator, he also co-sponsored the “Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2007.”

“Nominating David Ogden for such a high position in the Justice Department raises questions,” said MIM President Robert Peters, “about whether the new President means business about curbing sexual trafficking in women and children and other sexual exploitation of children and about standing up for policies that value families.

“It would be one thing if Ogden had represented pornographers or those defending pornography in one or two cases over a long distinguished legal career, but this man went into court over and over again to represent soft-core and hardcore pornographers and other smut peddlers.”

To learn more about this poor pick by Obama, click here.

Must-Read Articles Offered for Morning Reading

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Four news headlines jumped out at me this morning, prompting me to want to share them with you:

  • Obama’s Silence May Cost Israel — The Israel National News reports that Barack Obama’s absence of any substantive statements about the armed conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been based on the principle that “there is only one president at a time.”  It also points out that Obama has not adhered to the one-president-at -a-time policy when it came to discussions of the Mumbai Massacre or the economic crisis.
  • Militant Islam Threatens Us All — This Wall Street Journal op-ed piece by former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu offers a picture of what it’s like to face terror on a daily basis and explains how the struggle between militant Islam and modernity — whether fought in Afghanistan, Iraq, India or Gaza — will decide our common future. It is a battle we cannot afford to lose.

Richardson Scandal ‘Shape of Things to Come’

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The scandal that led to the withdrawal of Commerce Secretary-designate Bill Richardson may be “just the beginning of a string of scandals unlike anything we’ve seen in American history,” Richard A. Viguerie said today.

Viguerie used a late-afternoon news release to share his thoughts about Richardson, the current New Mexico governor and former Clinton cabinet member who faces a grand jury investigation into whether he exchanged infrastructure-related state contracts for political contributions.

“The federal government is on the verge of handing out hundreds of billions of dollars of so-called ‘economic stimulus,’” said Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com. “You can rest assured that big contributors and others with the right political connections will get big chunks of that money, and that a lot of it will never be accounted for. Much of it will go for ‘green’ energy projects that will turn out to be scams, and for public works projects that make the Capitol Visitor Center and ‘The Big Dig’ look like money well spent.”

The Capitol Visitor Center was originally planned to cost $71 million, its “final” budget was $265 million, and it eventually cost $621 million. The Big Dig was a Boston highway project that, by the time all political interests had been satisfied, cost four times the original estimates even with inflation taken into account.

“Cost overruns, the use of substandard materials with resulting injuries and deaths, payoffs to political interests such as environmentalists and neighborhood groups, and out-and-out bribery on government contracts — that’s what the American people better prepare themselves for, if the politicians have their way on this ‘stimulus,’” Viguerie said.

“Blagojevich? Richardson? You ain’t seen nothing yet!

“Already, it is hard to read or watch the news without being bombarded with stories of politicians being credibly accused of wrongdoing, being indicted, being sentenced. Throwing a trillion taxpayers’ dollars into a corrupt system will only make the system more corrupt.”

This explosion of corruption “is a serious threat to our democracy,” Viguerie said. “It is the Chicago-ization of American politics.”

‘Centrist Cabinet’ Label Matter of Perspective

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Michael, the creative mind behind My Personal Litmus, makes a good point in both the cartoon above and the narrative that accompanies it:

“I just laugh every time I hear the media mention Obama’s picks as being ‘Moderates’ or ‘Centrists.’  But I guess the view makes perfect sense when you consider where the media is viewing them from…”

Though I wish Michael would have included another special group people (i.e., Barack Obama’s friends and political cronies who are facing criminal investigations) in the cartoon, I understand why he did not: There simply isn’t room to show Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.), Bill Richardson (D-N.M.)*, ACORN officials and all of the others under scrutiny by state and federal officials.

*Note: Richardson  announced today he will withdraw his name from consideration as U.S. Secretary of Commerce. It seems there’s a cloud of suspicion hanging over him as a result of allegations of wrongdoing involving the New Mexico governor and a company doing business with the state of New Mexico.  Click here to read the Albuquerque Journal article about Richardson’s withdrawal.

Blogger Launches ‘Pardon Peter Lynch’ Effort

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“I don’t feel welcome in this state anymore, and I feel really bad about that. It’s a beautiful state here. After my six months of probation is completed with no other unknown caveats to this coming up, I want to go. I want to be somewhere other than here.” — Peter Lynch

Pardon Peter Lynch Graphic

The words above, according to an Albuquerque Journal article today, were spoken yesterday to listeners of an Albuquerque radio station by Peter Lynch shortly after a jury in Bernalillo County found the 31-year-old Air Force veteran guilty of “criminal damage to property” for his act of standing up for the American flag. And who can blame him.

Yesterday, I published details of the case in a post, Veteran Found Guilty in Mexican Flag Incident. Today, I’m trying to build momentum among patriots across this country to correct this egregious miscarriage of justice. As a first step, I sent the message below to the editors at USA TODAY.com and plan to send similar messages to other media outlets across the nation:

“Why did USA TODAY fail to cover the story of Peter Lynch, an Air Force veteran in New Mexico, who was convicted this week of criminal damage to property for taking down a Mexican flag that was flying — alone, I might add — on the University of New Mexico campus. And, yes, he tried unsuccessfully to get officials on the campus to take action over this blatant violation of flag protocol before taking action himself.

“It upset me so much that I started a campaign on my blog — at BobMcCarty.com — to invite others to help me convince New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that he needs to pardon Lynch if, that is, he doesn’t want his state to become known as the ‘Land of Disenchantment.’“

As a second step, I’m asking you — if you feel inclined to join me in this effort (and I hope you do) — to take action as well.

For starters, you can forward messages similar to the one above, along with the graphic shown, to members of the broadcast, electronic and print media, encouraging them to cover the story if they haven’t already done so.

Second, you can write and call New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and demand (politefully) that he grant a full pardon to Lynch and do it immediately. His contact information appears below:

Mailing address:

Office of the Governor
490 Old Santa Fe Trail
Room 400
Santa Fe, NM 87501

Phone: (505) 476-2200

Note: Be advised, I do not know Lynch, have not had any contact with Lynch and am not involved in raising any funds to support an appeal process. I am simply trying to reverse a wrong that has been committed in the justice system.

Veteran Found Guilty in Mexican Flag Incident

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Peter Lynch

Pardon

If New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has a shred of honor and patriotism, he will immediately pardon Peter Lynch.

Lynch is an Air Force veteran who, on Sept. 17, 2007, saw a Mexican Flag flying on a flag pole on the University of New Mexico campus. Seeing no American flag present, especially on Constitution Day, he notified campus officials. In turn, they chose to ignore the blatant violation of flag protocol. Lynch could not and, yesterday, a Bernalillo County jury found him guilty of a crime — criminal damage to property.

“I’m really still kind of floored that I was found guilty of a crime in America,” Lynch told The Daily Lobo. “I do think that my actions may have been slightly overzealous, but given the gravity of the situation – I was a cub scout, you know. I’ve learned when I was 7 years old how to raise and lower a flag and fold it. I feel strongly about the colors of the United States of America. That’s what it’s all about.” [Click here to read the rest of the UNM campus newspaper's report about the matter.]

Gov. Bill RichardsonIf you think Governor Richardson should immediately erase this conviction from Lynch’s record, call him and let him know how you feel. He can be reached at the New Mexico Governor’s Office at (505) 476-2200.

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UPDATE #1 4-04-08:  Blogger Launches ‘Pardon Peter Lynch’ Effort

Former Clinton Cabinet Member Endorses Obama

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Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama campaigned in Portland, Ore., today and received what many are calling an important endorsement from New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Hispanic who served as Secretary of Energy under President Bill Clinton.

It came, according to an AFP report, as Obama grappled with a row over incendiary racial remarks by his former pastor that polls showed cost him support in his race against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

In my opinion, the endorsement is only being deemed “important” because Clinton wanted it, too! In reality, Richardson remains a no-name politician who’s visibility barely extends beyond three small circles of influence he “owns” — in New Mexico, Old Mexico and Washington, D.C.