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Archive for the Political History CategoryDemocratic Party News - What Is Socialism?18. July 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
What is socialism? We miss the boat if we say it’s the agenda of those left-wingers and Democrats. According to Marxist doctrine, socialism is a stage of society between capitalism and communism where private ownership and control over property is eliminated. The essence of socialism is the attenuation and ultimate abolition of private property rights. Attacks on private property include, but are not limited to, confiscating the rightful property of one person and giving it to another to whom it doesn’t belong. When this is done privately we call it theft. When it’s done collectively we use the euphemisms: income transfers or redistribution. It’s not just left-wingers and Democrats who call for and admire socialism but right-wingers and Republicans as well. Republicans and right-wingers support taking the earnings of one American and giving them to farmers, banks, airlines and other failing businesses. Democrats and left-wingers support taking the earnings of one American and giving them to poor people, cities, and artists. Both agree on taking one American’s earnings to give to another; they simply differ on the recipients. This kind of congressional activity constitutes at least two-thirds of the federal budget. Regardless of the purpose such behavior is immoral. It’s a reduced form of slavery. After all what is the essence of slavery? It’s the forceful use of one person to serve the purposes of another person. When Congress, through the tax code, takes the earnings of one person and turns around to give it to another person in the forms of prescription drugs, social security, food stamps, farm subsidies or airline bailouts, it is forcibly using one person to serve the purposes of another. The moral question stands out in starker relief when we acknowledge that those spending programs coming out of Congress do not represent lawmakers reaching into their own pockets and sending out the money. Moreover, there’s no Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus giving them the money. The fact that government has no resources of its very own forces us to acknowledge that the only way government can give one American a dollar is to first through intimidation, threats and coercion take that dollar from some other American. Some might rejoin that all of this is a result of a democratic process and it’s legal. Legality alone is no guide for a moral people. There are many things in this world that have been, or are, legal but clearly immoral. Slavery was legal. Did that make it moral? South Africa’s apartheid, Nazi persecution of Jews, Stalinist and Maoist purges were all legal but did that make them moral? Can a moral case be made for taking the rightful property of one American and giving it to another to whom it does not belong? I think not. That’s why socialism is evil. It uses evil means (coercion) to achieve what are seen as good ends (helping people). We might also note that an act that is inherently evil does not become moral simply because there’s a majority consensus. An argument against legalized theft should not be construed as an argument against helping one’s fellow man in need. Charity is a noble instinct; theft legal or illegal is despicable. Or, put another way: reaching into one’s own pocket to assist his fellow man is noble and worthy of praise. Reaching into another person’s pocket to assist one’s fellow man is despicable and worthy of condemnation. For the Christians among us, socialism and the welfare state must be seen as sinful. When God gave Moses the commandment “Thou shalt not steal”, I’m sure He didn’t mean thou shalt not steal unless there’s a majority vote. And, I’m sure that if you asked God if it’s okay just being a recipient of stolen property, He would deem that a sin as well. Written by Walter E. Williams. Posted in Communist Radicals, Marxist Radicals, Marxism, What is Socialism?, Marxist Government, Progressivism, Democratic Party, WakeUp America, Political History, Progressives, Politics | 1 Comment » Democratic Party News - Progressivism: Philosophy of Evil.25. March 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
The “progressive movement” is the root of all evil in American politics, a “cancer” and a “virus” and a “parasite” that has “infected” both the Democratic and Republican parties. When Ronald Reagan labeled the Soviet Union as the “Evil Empire”, the progressives went nuts. When George Bush called Iran, Iraq and North Korea “The Axis of Evil” they went nuts again. Progressivism, the Americanized version of European and Asian socialism, is made up mostly of hard-core socialists and secular humanists. Progressivism does not recognize the concept of evil. It believes in the perfectibility of human nature and the promise of utopia here on earth to be brought about by the enlightened, benevolent hand of government. Masquerading as the savior of humanity, in reality all socialism, whether labeled socialism, Nazism, fascism, communism, or progressivism is the very essence of evil. During the twentieth century, socialism in its various forms was responsible for the slaughter of untold millions of innocent people through genocide, war, and political purges. In the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics, 60 million were slaughtered; under the Nationalist Socialists German Workers Party, 20 million; and under the People’s Republic of China, 50 million. Add to that the millions who died under Pol Pot, Castro, Ho Chi Minh, and other socialists dictators, and you have an unbelievable amount of human suffering that can only be ascribed to evil. For those unfortunate enough to live under one of the forms of socialism, life consists of misery, oppression and deprivation. Considering the consistent failure of socialism during its hundred and fifty year history, it is difficult to understand how any sane person could voluntarily choose it as the preferred systems of government and economics. There has never been an experiment in socialism of any duration that can be pointed to as an example of a successful culture. Every time it is tried, it fails miserably. To understand this incongruity of human experience we only have to look at the recent history of our own country. Socialism is never presented as “socialism”. In fact, the most ardent supporters of socialist policies are offended when someone identifies them as socialists. In America, socialism is sold under the pseudonyms of “liberalism”, “progressivism” and occasionally “fiscal conservatism“. For that reason, most people who support socialist policies do so without knowing they are embracing socialism. The essence of socialism is deception. At first glance, it appears that socialist policies are motivated by the highest of human ideals, compassion, concern, caring, sympathy, etc. Socialists’ appeals are made on behalf of the poor, the children, the disenfranchised, and those who have been unfortunate in life’s lottery. The reality is that socialism appeals to the basest of human flaws: jealousy, hatred, greed and envy. Progressives’ most potent weapon against capitalism is class envy and jealousy. Early on, they perfected the technique of demonizing “big business”. In the late eighteen hundreds progressives discovered that if they stereotyped “big businesses” as the enemy of the very people they served, the people, in return would grant progressives political power, not only over businesses but in other areas as well. Politicians found that by blaming the “robber barons of industry” for the ills of society— and there were many— they could win votes and support for their policies by posing as champions of the oppressed. In the early stages of the progressive era, the targets were the railroads, oil companies, steel companies, tobacco companies, and others who were instrumental in raising the standard of living for the American People. Progressive demonization of “big business” reached a high point under President William McKinley in 1898 with the formation of the “U.S. Industrial Commission on Trusts”. Theodore Roosevelt won the Presidency in 1900 on the basis of his attacks on “big business”, and “trust busting” became the theme for his time in office. However, William Howard Taft who succeeded Roosevelt as President was even more successful, breaking up 90 large firms during his four years in office compared with Roosevelt’s 44 during his eight-year term. The vilification of “big business” proved so politically successful for the progressives in the beginning that they have continued to use the tactic ever since to gain public support for their policies. The “villain du jour” currently is the insurance industry. A year ago, it was the banks. It all depends on what progressive policy is being pushed at the time. By successfully blaming the banking industry for our current economic woes rather than destructive government economic policies, Congress was able to gain support for its “bailout” packages. It is now attempting the same thing with health care, blaming insurance company “greed” for its high cost in order to gain support for their “reform” proposals. Unfortunately, it seems to be working. The entity most often blamed by the media, and ultimately the public, for the exorbitant cost of health care is insurance company greed. The fact is that insurance companies are in general no more profitable than other companies of similar size, and a large percentage of their profits come from investments, not premiums. The real greed comes not from capitalism but from progressivism. The number one attraction of progressivism is its promise to provide the public with economic benefits they have not earned by forcefully taking from the earnings of others. This attitude is the epitome of greed. Deception, corruption, envy, greed, jealously, coercion, thievery and wholesale murder mark the existence of socialism in the world. Socialism in America is represented by the progressives in and out of government, primarily in the Democratic Party but extant in the Republican Party as well, only to a lesser degree. The true “Axis of Evil” in America, that threatens to destroy the most successful system of government in world history are the progressive politicians, public sector unions, and federal bureaucracies. In other words, for a Progressive it is better to live in safety as a slave than to live in danger with Liberty. Progressives feel they are entitled to all of the best that life has to offer whether or not they contribute to their own success. Progressives are the cancer, the plague that could eventually destroy mankind and any remote concept of Freedom. Not to mention, the world economy and America as we know it. Posted in Corruption And Lies, Progressives, Socialism In America, Political History, Democratic Party, WakeUp America, Politics | 11 Comments » Political History - A brief history on the progressives and liberals taking over our Democratic Party.20. January 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
Submitted by George Falters We should remember the history on how the progressives and liberals have taking over our Democratic Party. In 1972, McGovern and the far left captured control of the Democratic Party. Even during Bill Clinton’s supposedly “moderate” era, the party was still run by “progressives” (what Marxists call themselves to hide the fact they are Marxists). The remaining pro-freedom Democrats, like “Scoop” Jackson, were forced out of the party. As Ronald Reagan (a former Democrat and labor union president) said, “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, it left me.” By 1998 the progressive and liberals had succeeded in taking over our Democratic Party, for every single Democrat in the U.S. Senate voted to keep President Clinton in office when they knew and publicly admitted he was guilty of multiple felonies for which the House impeached him. Posted in Corruption And Lies, Political History, President Clinton, Democratic Party | No Comments » They Grew Up And Took Over The Democratic Party And Our Government.5. October 2009 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
Looks like the dancing children have learned an important lesson. Then they grew up and took over the Democratic Party and our Government.
Posted in Political History, Democratic Party, Politics | No Comments » Ronald Reagan TV Ad: “Its morning in america again”.5. October 2009 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
Will we ever see this in the future as Democrates, for President Ronald Reagan was a Republican. Posted in Political History, WakeUp America, Democratic Party | Comments Off Democratic Party News - Who Rules America.5. October 2009 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
Here are some dramatic facts that sum up how the wealth distribution became even more concentrated between 1983 and 2004, in good part due to the tax loopholes provided for the wealthy and the defeat of labor unions: Of all the new financial wealth created by the American economy in that 21-year-period, fully 42% of it went to the top 1%. A whopping 94% went to the top 20%, which of course means that the bottom 80% received only 6% of all the new financial wealth generated in the United States during the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s. Posted in Political History, Politics | No Comments » Democratic Party News - United States Abandoning Capitalism for Socialism.4. October 2009 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
Over the past few decades, the United States has steadily evolved from a nation of ‘producers’ to one of ‘consumers’. The change has been celebrated by politicians and economists as proof of America’s arrival at the top of the global economic food chain. In reality, the development has depleted the nation of its hard-earned wealth, and has led us to the brink of ruin. But rather than encouraging a return of America’s productive energy, our government is responding to the growing economic crisis by simply trying to boost consumerism at all costs. Their strategy involves socializing losses among all citizens so that the depletion can’t be easily discerned. Now that the nation has chosen socialism as its economic salvation, it is worthwhile to examine some historic precedents. They are not encouraging. Europe, the former Soviet block and much of Africa and Asia, show vividly that socialism curbs individual freedom and enterprise, and leads inevitably toward economic decline. America was blessed both with abundant natural resources and individual freedom, the backbone of enterprise. The combination rendered American productivity the envy of the world. Based on the strength of our industry and productivity, the American Treasury became the world’s largest. Why would America swap a history of successful capitalism for a murky future of socialism? The Answer is politics. When the vast majority of the country’s private sector working population is employed in the service sector, then votes tip in favor of consumerism. This is happening in America. Consumer spending now accounts for 72 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and is viewed as the engine of our continued prosperity. Over the past decade, when recession threatened to curtail spending, the government pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy. This led to two massive liquidity-driven booms; first in technology, then in housing. During these booms, greed knew few bounds and leverage became a way of life. But when the merry-go-round stalled, politicians did not, and will not, allow the normally corrective mechanism of a recession to operate. It is trying to take the pain out of capitalism, while leaving only the pleasure. This is impossible. In the current attempt at a market correction, the government has decided that our bloated financial companies are “too big to fail”. As a result, the government has lent billions of taxpayers’ dollars to bail out Wall Street and the mortgage industry. Some investment banks were given privileged access to the ‘Fed Window’ to borrow unlimited amounts of money, secured by ‘junk’ securities and at the lowest (negative) interest rates, well below the level of inflation. In addition, the shares of the larger financial companies were also given special ‘short-selling’ trading protections. It is important to note that these protections were not given to other industries, and were not even extended to the entire financial industry. Those receiving the public largesse are precisely the large institutions most responsible for the mess. It was the financial and corporate fat cats who made the private profits gleaned from massive, irresponsible lending and borrowing. Yet, when it comes to rescue, the ordinary citizen pays. Declining corporate earnings, increased government intervention and higher taxes are tell-tale symptoms of socialism. They can now be expected in America, bringing downward pressure on U.S. government paper and equities. Recession in America will likely reverberate around the world, bringing worldwide strain to economies and equities. Let us hope that the rest of the world will not follow America’s example and head down the road toward socialism. Economies adopting a free market approach are likely to far outperform those embracing the discarded doctrines of financial failure. By John Browne Posted in Socialism In America, Political History, Democratic Party, Politics | No Comments » The Democratic Platform for America: On Budget & Economy, July 2004.30. September 2009 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
Cut the deficit in half over the next four years. We will roll back the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $200,000. We will restore commonsense budget rules that this Administration has abandoned, like “Pay-As-You-Go” rules that require the government to pay for new initiatives. We will commit to living within tough budget caps-real and enforceable limits on what the government can spend. We are committed to cutting the deficit in half over the next four years. Posted in Political History, Democratic Party, Politics | 1 Comment » The Clinton Legacy28. September 2009 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
We as Democrats need to clean out the corruption within The Democratic Party. That is why we have posted this information. The Clintons, to adapt a line from Dr. Johnson, were not only corrupt, they were the cause of corruption in others. Yet seldom in America have so many come to excuse so much mendacity and malfeasance as during the Clinton years. Here are some of the facts that have been buried. RECORDS SET * According to our best information, 40 government officials were indicted or convicted in the wake of Watergate. A reader computes that there was a total of 31 Reagan era convictions, including 14 because of Iran-Contra and 16 in the Department of Housing & Urban Development scandal. 47 individuals and businesses associated with the Clinton machine were convicted of or pleaded guilty to crimes with 33 of these occurring during the Clinton administration itself. There were in addition 61 indictments or misdemeanor charges. 14 persons were imprisoned. A key difference between the Clinton story and earlier ones was the number of criminals with whom he was associated before entering the White House. Using a far looser standard that included resignations, David R. Simon and D. Stanley Eitzen in Elite Deviance, say that 138 appointees of the Reagan administration either resigned under an ethical cloud or were criminally indicted. Curiously Haynes Johnson uses the same figure but with a different standard in “Sleep-Walking Through History: America in the Reagan Years: “By the end of his term, 138 administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations. In terms of number of officials involved, the record of his administration was the worst ever.” **Selene Walter accused Ronald Reagan of rape 39 years after the alleged assault in the 1950s. No further information is available on this case. The Juanita Broaddrick case involving Bill Clinton was investigated by the congressional impeachment counsel. According to counsel David Shippers those conducting the interview “have assured me that she is the most credible witness that either one of them have ever talked to” STARR-RAY INVESTIGATION - Number of Starr-Ray investigation convictions or guilty pleas (including one governor, one associate attorney general and two Clinton business partners): 14 CRIME STATS - Number of individuals and businesses associated with the Clinton machine who have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to crimes: 47 SMALTZ INVESTIGATION - Guilty pleas and convictions obtained by Donald Smaltz in cases involving charges of bribery and fraud against former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy and associated individuals and businesses: 15 CAMPAIGN FINANCE INVESTIGATION - As of June 2000, the Justice Department listed 25 people indicted and 19 convicted because of the 1996 Clinton-Gore fundraising scandals. CLINTON MACHINE CRIMES FOR WHICH CONVICTIONS WERE OBTAINED Drug trafficking (3), racketeering, extortion, bribery (4), tax evasion, kickbacks, embezzlement (2), fraud (12), conspiracy (5), fraudulent loans, illegal gifts (1), illegal campaign contributions (5), money laundering (6), perjury, obstruction of justice. HISTORICAL CONTEXT - Number of independent counsel inquiries since the 1978 law was passed: 19 OTHER MATTERS INVESTIGATED BY SPECIAL PROSECUTORS AND CONGRESS, OR REPORTED IN THE MEDIA Bank and mail fraud, violations of campaign finance laws, illegal foreign campaign funding, improper exports of sensitive technology, physical violence and threats of violence, solicitation of perjury, intimidation of witnesses, bribery of witnesses, attempted intimidation of prosecutors, perjury before congressional committees, lying in statements to federal investigators and regulatory officials, flight of witnesses, obstruction of justice, bribery of cabinet members, real estate fraud, tax fraud, drug trafficking, failure to investigate drug trafficking, bribery of state officials, use of state police for personal purposes, exchange of promotions or benefits for sexual favors, using state police to provide false court testimony, laundering of drug money through a state agency, false reports by medical examiners and others investigating suspicious deaths, the firing of the RTC and FBI director when these agencies were investigating Clinton and his associates, failure to conduct autopsies in suspicious deaths, providing jobs in return for silence by witnesses, drug abuse, improper acquisition and use of 900 FBI files, improper futures trading, murder, sexual abuse of employees, false testimony before a federal judge, shredding of documents, withholding and concealment of subpoenaed documents, fabricated charges against (and improper firing of) White House employees, inviting drug traffickers, foreign agents and participants in organized crime to the White House. ARKANSAS ALTZHEIMER’S Number of times that Clinton figures who testified in court or before Congress said that they didn’t remember, didn’t know, or something similar. Bill Kennedy 116 FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES: In the portions of President Clinton’s Jan. 17 deposition that have been made public in the Paula Jones case, his memory failed him 267 times. This is a list of his answers and how many times he gave each one. I don’t remember - 71 ARKANSAS SUDDEN DEATH SYNDROME - Number of persons in the Clinton machine orbit who are alleged to have committed suicide: 9 It is important in considering these fatal incidents to bear in mind the following:
ARKANSAS MONEY MANAGEMENT - Amount of an alleged electronic transfer from the Arkansas Development Financial Authority to a bank in the Cayman Islands during 1980s: $50 million THE MEDIA - Number of journalists covering Whitewater who have been fired, transferred off the beat, resigned or otherwise gotten into trouble because of their work on the scandals (Doug Frantz, Jim Wooten, Richard Behar, Christopher Ruddy, Michael Isikoff, David Eisenstadt, Yinh Chan, Jonathan Broder, James R. Norman, Zoh Hieronimus): 10 FRIENDS OF BILL - Number of times John Huang took the 5th Amendment in answer to questions during a Judicial Watch deposition: 1,000 UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA - FBI files misappropriated by the White House: c. 900 THE HIDDEN ELECTION USA Today calls it “the hidden election,” in which nearly 7,000 state legislative seats are decided with only minimal media and public attention. But there was an important national story here: evidence of the disaster that Bill Clinton was for the Democratic Party. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Democrats held a 1,542 seat lead in the state bodies in 1990. As of 1998 that lead had shrunk to 288. That’s a loss of over 1,200 state legislative seats, nearly all of them under Clinton. Across the US, the Democrats controled only 65 more state senate seats than the Republicans. Further, in 1992, the Democrats controlled 17 more state legislatures than the Republicans. After 1998, the Republicans controlled one more than the Democrats. Not only was this a loss of 9 legislatures under Clinton, but it was the first time since 1954 that the GOP had controlled more state legislatures than the Democrats (they tied in 1968). Here’s what happened to the Democrats under Clinton, based on our latest figures: - GOP seats gained in House since Clinton became president: 45 - Those corporatist media reporters who attempted to report the story often found themselves muzzled; some even lost their jobs. The only major dailies that consistently handled the story well were the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times. - Nobody on this list has gotten rich and many you may not have even heard of. Taking on the Clintons typically has not been a happy or rewarding experience. At least ten reporters were fired, transferred off their beats, resigned, or otherwise got into trouble because of their work on the scandals. - Contrary to the popular impression, the politics of those listed ranges from the left to the right, and from the ideological to the independent. PUBLIC OFFICIALS MIGUEL RODRIGUEZ was a prosecutor on the staff of Kenneth Starr. His attempts to uncover the truth in the Vincent Foster death case were repeatedly foiled and he was the subject of planted stories undermining his credibility and implying that he was unstable. Rodriguez eventually resigned. JEAN DUFFEY: Head of a joint federal-county drug task force in Arkansas. Her first instructions from her boss: “Jean, you are not to use the drug task force to investigate any public official.” Duffey’s work, however, led deep into the heart of the Dixie Mafia, including members of the Clinton machine and the investigation of the so-called “train deaths.” Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports that when she produced a star witness who could testify to Clinton’s involvement with cocaine, the local prosecuting attorney, Dan Harmon issued a subpoena for all the task force records, including “the incriminating files on his own activities. If Duffey had complied it would have exposed 30 witnesses and her confidential informants to violent retributions. She refused.” Harmon issued a warrant for her arrest and friendly cops told her that there was a $50,000 price on her head. She eventually fled to Texas. The once-untouchable Harmon was later convicted of racketeering, extortion and drug dealing. BILL DUNCAN: An IRS investigator in Arkansas who drafted some 30 federal indictments of Arkansas figures on money laundering and other charges. Clinton biographer Roger Morris quotes a source who reviewed the evidence: “Those indictments were a real slam dunk if there ever was one.” The cases were suppressed, many in the name of “national security.” Duncan was never called to testify. Other IRS agents and state police disavowed Duncan and turned on him. Said one source, “Somebody outside ordered it shut down and the walls went up.” RUSSELL WELCH: An Arkansas state police detective working with Duncan. Welch developed a 35-volume, 3,000 page archive on drug and money laundering operations at Mena. His investigation was so compromised that a high state police official even let one of the targets of the probe look through the file. At one point, Welch was sprayed in the face with poison, later identified by the Center for Disease Control as anthrax. He would write in his diary, “I feel like I live in Russia, waiting for the secret police to pounce down. A government has gotten out of control. Men find themselves in positions of power and suddenly crimes become legal.” Welch is no longer with the state police. DAN SMALTZ: Smaltz did an outstanding job investigating and prosecuting charges involving illegal payoffs to Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, yet was treated with disparaging and highly inaccurate reporting by the likes of the David Broder and the NY Times. Espy was acquitted under a law that made it necessary to not only prove that he accepted gratuities but that he did something specific in return. On the other hand, Tyson Foods copped a plea in the same case, paying $6 million in fines and serving four years’ probation. The charge: that Tyson had illegally offered Espy $12,000 in airplane rides, football tickets and other payoffs. In the Espy investigation, Smaltz obtained 15 convictions and collected over $11 million in fines and civil penalties. Offenses for which convictions were obtained included false statements, concealing money from prohibited sources, illegal gratuities, illegal contributions, falsifying records, interstate transportation of stolen property, money laundering, and illegal receipt of USDA subsidies. In addition, Janet Reno blocked Smaltz from pursuing leads aimed at allegations of major drug trafficking in Arkansas and payoffs to the then governor of the state, WJ Clinton. Espy had become Ag secretary only after being flown to Arkansas to get the approval of chicken king Don Tyson. DAVID SCHIPPERS was House impeachment counsel and a Chicago Democrat. He did a highly creditable job but since he didn’t fit the right-wing conspiracy theory, the Clintonista media downplayed his work. Thus most Americans don’t know that he told Newsmax, “Let me tell you, if we had a chance to put on a case, I would have put live witnesses before the committee. But the House leadership, and I’m not talking about Henry Hyde, they just killed us as far as time was concerned. I begged them to let me take it into this year. Then I screamed for witnesses before the Senate. But there was nothing anybody could do to get those Senators to show any courage. They told us essentially, you’re not going to get 67 votes so why are you wasting our time.” Schippers also said that while a number of representatives had looked at additional evidence kept under seal in a nearby House building, not a single senator did. JOHN CLARKE: When Patrick Knowlton stopped to relieve himself in Ft. Marcy Park 70 minutes before the discovery of Vince Foster’s body, he saw things that got him into deep trouble. His interview statements were falsified and prior to testifying he claims he was overtly harassed by more than a score of men in a classic witness intimidation technique. In some cases there were witnesses. John Clarke was his dogged lawyer in the witness intimidation case that was largely ignored by the media, even when the three-judge panel overseeing the Starr investigation permitted Knowlton to append a 20 page addendum to the Starr Report. OTHER THE ARKANSAS COMMITTEE: What would later be known as the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy actually began on the left - as a group of progressive students at the University of Arkansas had formed the Arkansas Committee to look into Mena, drugs, money laundering, and Arkansas politics. This committee was the source of some of the important early Clinton stories including those published in the Progressive Review. CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SCANDALS E-LIST: Moderated by Ray Heizer, this list was subject to all the idiosyncrasies of Internet bulletin boards, but nonetheless proved invaluable to researchers and journalists. JOURNALISTS JERRY SEPER of the Washington Times was far and away the best beat reporter of the story, handling it week after week in the best tradition of investigative journalism. If other reporters had followed Seper’s lead, the history of the Clintons’ machine might have been quite different. AMBROSE EVANS-PRITCHARD of the London Telegraph did a remarkable job of digging into some of the seamiest tales from Arkansas and the Clinton past. Other early arrivals on the scene were Alexander Cockburn and Jeff Gerth. CHRISTOPHER RUDDY, among other fine reports on the Clinton scandals, did the best job laying out the facts in the Vince Foster death case. ROGER MORRIS AND SALLY DENTON wrote a major expose of events at Mena, but at the last moment the Washington Post’s brass ordered the story killed. It was published by Penthouse and later included in Morris’ “Partners in Power,” the best biography of the Clintons. OTHERS who helped get parts of the story out included reporters Philip Weiss, Carl Limbacher, Wes Phelan, David Bresnahan, William Sammon, Liza Myers, Mara Leveritt, Matt Drudge, Jim Ridgeway, Nat Hentoff, Michael Isikoff, Christopher Hitchens and Michael Kelly. Also independent investigator Hugh Sprunt and former White House FBI agent Gary Aldrich. SAM SMITH of the Progressive Review wrote the first book (Shadows of Hope, University of Indiana Press, 1994) deconstructing the Clinton myth. The Review provided extensive coverage of the topic. Posted in Political History, President Clinton, Democratic Party, Politics | No Comments »
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