Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

It may be a 'big deal' to you, Luke Russert, but Sestak's 'job offer' is way down on our list

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » General Discussion: Presidency Donate to DU
 
flpoljunkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 09:36 AM
Original message
It may be a 'big deal' to you, Luke Russert, but Sestak's 'job offer' is way down on our list
The media just won't let go of this 'nothing burger.' It's the way they operate--working as hand maidens to the GOP.

I expect Obama will lay this to rest today. Then, they will, of course, look for something else with which to try and beat the Dems over the head.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
Botany Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 09:37 AM
Response to Original message
1. "They" are making this stuff up in order to hurt Obama re Sestak Bribe
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:52 AM
Response to Reply #1
15. Just like White and Ayers..and the birfers.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
jezebel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 09:45 AM
Response to Original message
2. They are working themselves into a froth over it. I have heard it called "Obama's watergate" and
"could Obama be impeached?" in the last ten minutes on 2 different stations. And these weren't Republicans these were the media anchors. Disgusting.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Peacetrain Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 09:47 AM
Response to Reply #2
3. Damn they can't even give it 10 minutes can they.. Impeached? oh vey
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Deep13 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 09:49 AM
Response to Reply #2
5. Answer: no. It's not a crime or even unethical. nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
harkadog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 12:29 PM
Response to Reply #5
25. 18 US Code 211 says differently unfortunately.
Edited on Thu May-27-10 12:30 PM by harkadog
Government officials can't offer jobs for things of value. Having your candidate get a clear shot to the nomination is a thing of value. So either that happened and is a crime or Sestak is a liar.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Deep13 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 01:11 PM
Response to Reply #25
29. I realize the Fed. law doesn't actually require a quid-pro-quo...
...like most state bribery laws do. I'll have to check out the Fed. statute again when i get a chance. Even so, wouldn't the actual service of the prosective employee be "something of value?" Anyway, Sestak's withdrawal from the race may be a political benefit, but it is not something of value to Obama himself. He would not get rich for example because Spector wins the primary. Was making Hillary Clinton SoS a bribe to keep her from being critical of him from the Senate? I think there has to be some allowance for purely political matters.

Anyway, I have to reject the idea that disproving the one necessarily proves the other. It may be possible that Obama offered a job just because Sestak is qualified, but that Sestak assumed it was to get him out of the way.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
harkadog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 02:21 PM
Response to Reply #29
30. I am originally from Chicago and was involved in politics there for 30 years.
Obama's problem is that he has surrounded himself with Chicago people, like Rahm Emanuel and Axelrod, who think nothing of offering people jobs, contracts, and money to get their way politically. Because that is how things are done in Chicago and these people have got to realize they are at the federal level where there are different standards and a higher level of scrutiny.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Cleita Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 09:51 AM
Response to Reply #2
7. They would love to get him impeached over nothing, like they
did Bill Clinton.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
karynnj Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 09:55 AM
Response to Reply #7
8. The difference is that Clinton, though not quilty of high crimes and misdemeanors,
DID coach witnesses and he did lie under oath. There was a reason that they suspended his law license for a time.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Zoeisright Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:31 AM
Response to Reply #8
13. And that justified spending $40 million and hamstringing an administration?
BS.

And then Bush/Cheney, who DID commit impeachable offenses, are totally left off the hook.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
karynnj Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 11:23 AM
Response to Reply #13
20. I didn't say that
The problem I have is on equating Obama to Clinton. At this point, there is NOTHING that Obama has been accused of that breaks the law. Clinton DID step over the line.

Now, most of that $40 million was spent long before Clinton even met Lewinski. There the MOST that Clinton could be blamed for is that he refused to completely lay out everything about Whitewater. This was reasonable - but as he did nothing wrong he could have stopped everything by disclosing everything - as Senators led by Moynihan recommended (per Sidney Blumenthal's book).
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Proud Liberal Dem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 11:32 AM
Response to Reply #2
22. Media Anchors=Republicans (or at least Republican-enablers)
They OWN the media now apparently
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Deep13 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 09:48 AM
Response to Original message
4. It's not a bribe.
Even if true, and I'm not assuming it is, offering a job to a qualified person is not a bribe even if there are ulterior motives for doing so. Was Bill Clinton's appointment of Gov. William Weld (R-MA) as ambassador to Mexico a bribe? Of course not. Was it calculated to eliminate Weld as a political adversary or to let Weld and Helms trash each other on TV? Probably.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
flpoljunkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 11:33 AM
Response to Reply #4
23. You make a great point here.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Captain Hilts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 09:50 AM
Response to Original message
6. That's correct. Let's get ahead of it and not let it become Big. nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
craigmatic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 09:55 AM
Response to Original message
9. This maybe technically illegal but administrations have been doing this for a while now.
Sestak should learn to keep his mouth shut.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ShortnFiery Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 11:18 AM
Response to Reply #9
19. Yeah, so what Blago is getting prosecuted? When OUR GUYS do it, it's LEGAL.
:crazy:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
jenmito Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:08 AM
Response to Original message
10. He said, "Some Republicans are calling this 'Obama's Watergate.'"
Edited on Thu May-27-10 10:09 AM by jenmito
Meanwhile, what "some Republicans" are calling it gets repeated by Luke and others. :eyes:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:53 AM
Response to Reply #10
16. Whereas most republicons are so full shit..
they waddle.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Hepburn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:14 AM
Response to Original message
11. Luke Russert...
...:puke:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
WI_DEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:30 AM
Response to Original message
12. Luke Russert is a bloated example of nepotism at its worse.
Really what qualifies him to have a fairly high profile job at a major news network?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
goclark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:46 AM
Response to Reply #12
14. "Son of Tim" was his entire resume
Edited on Thu May-27-10 10:47 AM by goclark
The words "Son of Tim" got the job for him.


Why, when there are so many qualified people, did they pick "Lil Luke!!!

Give me a break! :puke:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
treestar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 11:13 AM
Response to Original message
17. If this is against the law, why so?
It sounds like a dumb law - what evil is it meant to prevent?

And how can the government ever prove the state of mind of the job offerer?

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
harkadog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 02:26 PM
Response to Reply #17
31. The law (18 USC 211) is intended to prevent a government official
from using the powers of his office to corrupt the political process and prevent them from receiving something of value by offering jobs. Government officials can't offer jobs for things of value. Having your candidate get a clear shot to the nomination is a thing of value. State of mind can be proven by the implications of the surrounding facts. That method of showing state of mind is used everyday by government prosecutors in court throughout the U.S.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
treestar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 04:46 PM
Response to Reply #31
35. Anyone else could run against your candidate though
If Sestak takes the job, someone else could still run against Spector, for example. If it's a law it would have to be one that applied regardless of particular circumstances. That law would be meant to apply to something much more concrete as a "thing of value," I'm betting.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
harkadog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 06:05 PM
Response to Reply #35
36. It applies and David Axelrod agrees
He said Tuesday that if a job was offered in the manner Sestak suggested it "would be a serious breach of the law". Sestak need to come clean on this.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ShortnFiery Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 11:16 AM
Response to Original message
18. Luke Russert = MSNBC's nepotism program at it's most VILE.
:puke:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Phx_Dem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 11:26 AM
Response to Original message
21. Sestak really screwed himself and may have hurt his chances
for election in the general, simply because he wanted to stick to the White House for supporting Specter. Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face! There may be nothing illegal or unethical, but that won't stop the media from dogging him until election day.

:nuke:

I miss Specter right about now.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
flpoljunkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 12:15 PM
Original message
Specter's not gone yet. Though, no doubt Sestak wishes he'd kept his mouth shut.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
treestar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-28-10 09:16 AM
Response to Original message
38. Maybe Spector could pull a Lieberman
If he ran as Ind. then he is in a similar position.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
flpoljunkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 12:15 PM
Response to Reply #21
24. At least Sestak hasn't said he said it to get 'e-lec-ted' like Specter!
Edited on Thu May-27-10 12:40 PM by flpoljunkie
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Phx_Dem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 12:49 PM
Response to Reply #24
26. Yep, and that dumb and selfish remark did him in. n/t
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
kiranon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 12:49 PM
Response to Reply #21
27. Sestak may be the Democrats Rand Paul.
Edited on Thu May-27-10 12:49 PM by kiranon
Sestak's comment about the job offer comes across as an incredibly stupid comment by a politician. There is nothing wrong in talking about options for a person to pursue in politics - he can be 1 out of a 100 in the Senate or be a person in charge of an important office/job in Washington or elsewhere. Asking what his goal is now or in the future is not a bribe. I seriously doubt his judgment and his ability to conduct high level discussions here or with foreign leaders. I wouldn't assign him any tasks that require judgment, the ability to hold confidences or loyalty.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
totodeinhere Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 12:53 PM
Response to Reply #27
28. It's totally unfair to compare Sestak to Rand Paul.
There just is no comparison. His comment about whatever happened or didn't happen with the alleged job offer doesn't even come close to Paul's wanting private businesses to have the right to discriminate against African Americans.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
IndianaGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 02:28 PM
Response to Original message
32. Well, Obama did not 'lay this to rest today.' He let it fester.
The Gulf catastrophe trumps everything else, including this one.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
flpoljunkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 02:38 PM
Response to Reply #32
34. It will be put to rest shortly. Assume that means sometime today, or perhaps tomorrow at the latest.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
TwilightGardener Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 02:31 PM
Response to Original message
33. Honestly, it's not even ON my list. It's politics. Job offers and appointments
are made for all sorts of strategic reasons, I'm sure. As long as the person is qualified, I don't give a damn. I wouldn't have cared that every other President did it, and I don't care now.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
JoeyT Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 09:36 PM
Response to Original message
37. It's pretty much a non-issue.
I'd be willing to bet every president in the last 50 years has done this. I know one of them did and no one said a word.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Sat May 04th 2024, 12:17 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » General Discussion: Presidency Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC