If I were Shrubco, I’d be scared shitless by the prospect

[Jackpine Radical]

of a Kerry administration. Kerry is not only an experienced prosecutor, he has that Iran-Contra investigative experience, and knows where the old bodies from Bush I are buried, and furthermore is no fool about where the new ones are being planted under Bush II. And he knows how to fight. Last time anybody shot at him, he charged into the fire and killed his attacker. Can you imagine the nightmare for Repugs? Every time they try some dirty-trick fake investigation, the Kerry people come up with another body Shrub, Cheney & Rove buried in the Rose Garden.

The press can ignore Candidate Kerry, and they can ignore the Bush scandals--but can they ignore President Kerry and his AG when they start laying out the filth for the public to see?

[Nite Owl]

1. What's scarey is their being scared.

Like a wild animal backed into a corner they could lash out dangerously. Nothing is beyond this group and they feel that they have to win this, they aren't done yet. Very nervous about next week.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Oh, yes. Absolutely.

[stevedeshazer]

3. I have no doubt there are a lot of skeletons in the Bush garden

For example, Funeralgate:


SCI CEO Robert Waltrip
is the world's highest paid undertaker.
photograph by F. Carter Smith


Led by Governor Bush, the Funeralgate cast includes Sen. John Whitmire, SCI CEO Robert Waltrip (in hat), Bush aide Joe Allbaugh, Rep. Kyle Janek, Sen. Kenneth Armbrister, and Attorney General John Cornyn.
illustration by Doug Potter

source: http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol18/issue45/pols.sci.html

<snip>
On April 15, 1998, funeral magnate Robert Waltrip talked with Gov. George W. Bush in the Texas Capitol. That much is not in dispute. However, the content of their discussion is the subject of considerable dispute. And the actions taken by the governor's staff members, a half-dozen legislators, and Texas Attorney General John Cornyn after that April 15 meeting are part of what may be the biggest influence-buying scandal in recent memory.

The politicos and the funeral company are at the heart of a whistleblower lawsuit filed March 23 against the state, funeral home giant Service Corporation International (SCI), and Waltrip, the company's chairman and CEO. The suit alleges that Bush and other politicos worked to thwart an investigation by the Texas Funeral Service Commission (TFSC) into improperly licensed embalmers working out of SCI funeral homes in Dallas.



What began as a citizen's complaint against SCI in January 1998 has since grown into a scandal revolving around campaign contributions, and the influence they may buy. All of the politicos who intervened on SCI's behalf received major contributions from SCI's political action committee, or PAC. Did that money convince them to help SCI -- the world's largest death care company -- and to punish the agency that investigated SCI? Whether that was the reason or not, the state officials took positions that may hurt consumers. SCI's prices are routinely among the highest in the funeral business. One consumer advocate, Lamar Hankins, the president of the Funeral & Memorial Societies of America, says the company routinely engages in "price gouging." But campaign cash, not consumers, is at the heart of this scandal. And the scandal promises to grow as the lawsuit -- filed by former TFSC director Eliza May -- works through the discovery process. The suit alleges that May was fired because she "repeatedly and in good faith reported violations of the law and conduct that she reasonably believed to constitute violations of the law."

As May's suit goes forward, Bush and the other politicos who helped SCI are scrambling for cover. May's lawyers want to depose Bush. But the governor missed a requested July 1 deposition date because he was busy campaigning for the presidency in California. Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who appears to have gone out of his way to help SCI in its battle with the TFSC, is ducking May's deposition request by claiming legislative privilege, a law that protects legislators from revealing communications they have had with citizens
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You are right, Mr. Radical. It's just the tip of the iceberg.

[susu369]

10. Don't forget Alberto "can't remember anything" Gonzales

in that Funeralgate story.

[zaj]

4. If Bush loses, I predict...

That Ashcroft will charge Cheney just in time for Bush to be able to pardon him.

[Murdock]

5. I seriously doubt it..

One Bonesman going after another.. Nah.. I doubt it'll happen..

[3trievers]

6. yup

I concur.

[KharmaTrain]

8. "Time To Heal"..."Let's Move On"...I Can Hear It Now

I expect that this campaign will so poison the national dynamic that people will want to get far away from both * and politics if Kerry wins...and that Kerry may just accomodate.

Yep, there's gonna be a ton of last minute Bunnypants pardons and the GOOP Congress will work overtime in the lame duck sessions to pass special exemptions for their buddies...they'll take their stolen goods and go into hiding for a year or so. We'll be so glad to see them go, that'll be the big victory in itself and there'll be so much mess to clean up.

Truthfully, I'm torn on which way we go after these criminals when the time comes for them to pay for all they've done. A big part of me wishes the International Court would get working on investigating this invasion and put the same measure to this regime they would to others in regards to war crimes...and if they were committed, those responsible should be hauled to The Hague and put in the dock...no exemptions, no pardons, no special treatment.

As far as the swindling domestically, sadly we have a system that rewards those who steal legally...through corporate welfare and the kleptocracy. There's an honor among theives inside the beltway that they'll rarely investigate each other's really smelly crap (the money) as what burns the other side eventually comes back to burn them. Our only hopes there are civil suits and press investigations that create a public outrage...but I'm not holding my breath.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. If that were true

Kerry would have never run the BCCI investigations.

Unlike W, Kerry grew up and no longer sees the world through the same eyes has when he was a student at Yale.

[KG]

9. never happen.

they aren't worried in the least.

[Jackpine Radical]

11. I hear the general consensus of doubt here,

and part of me shares it. But I keep remembering that Kerry has a history of investigating Repugs, what with Iran/Contra and BCCI. It wasn't his fault that the weak-kneed Dems of the time decided to let it all fall by the wayside rather than bring down the Reagan & Bush admins respectively.

I think that Kerry is a fighter, and the thing that will motivate him to pull out the stops is if the Repugs continue the frivolous accusations and bogus investigations like they did in the Clinton years. He won't take that kind of treatment lying down. He has REAL dirt on the other side, both old and new, and, by all reports, a willingness to take them to the mat, no holds barred, if that's the way they want to play.

[stevedeshazer]

12. I'm no doubter on this

I think you're right.

Kerry is most strong on the issues that *Bushco can't defend.

I want someone to drive a stake into the heart of the so-called "conservative" movement, and I agree that Kerry may well be the right guy at the right time. I also think he understands that the political left is united more than ever. Now is the time.

The convention next week will reveal if this is true.

[shraby]

13. If Kerry is elected, I'm sure people

will start pushing for investigations until something is done about the Bush misadministration and the crimes against the nation.