Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Regularly Scheduled Condemnation

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But there’s no need to withhold judgment on Daschle himself.  He embodies everything that is sleazy, sickly, and soul-less about Washington.  It’s probably impossible for Obama to fill his cabinet with individuals entirely free of Beltway filth — it’s extremely rare to get anywhere near that system without being infected by it — but Daschle oozes Beltway slime from every pore.

Also on Salon, Joan Walsh:

Let’s hope this is a lesson for President Obama: He needs to keep his campaign promises. I’m thrilled about closing Guantánamo, lifting the gag rule, signing the Lilly Ledbetter law, all the executive orders he signed on ethics, openness and accountability. But Obama promised to clean up Washington, and the Daschle pick bothered me, especially when his tax problems were revealed. There’s something intolerable about his forgetting to pay taxes on his limousine. It’s like he feels a car and chauffeur are entitlements, not forms of compensation by his wealthy clients. It must have been so bewildering to Daschle, as if the government had decided to tax the air we breathe, or the love of our families! My limousine? My God, who knew?

John Nichols at The Nation:

The scandal over Daschle’s lavish lifestyle and failure to pay taxes simply emphasized why the former Senate Majority Leader was exactly the wrong choice to serve in the administration of a Democratic president who aspires to make a break with the worst of the compromises that characterized his party during the Bush-Cheney era.

On another thread, I noted that The Nation’s editor, Katrina vanden Heuvel actually contacted the Obama Administration and asked them to withdraw the nomination.

The lead editorial in today’s New York Times

Mr. Daschle is another in a long line of politicians who move cozily between government and industry. We don’t know that his industry ties would influence his judgments on health issues, but they could potentially throw a cloud over health care reform. Mr. Daschle could clear the atmosphere by withdrawing his name.

Following the tag for Daschle at Daily Kos does not turn up supporters. I noted teacherken’s on another thread.

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Comments

  1. Nancy Killefer (did not pay taxes)
    Tom Daschle (did not pay taxes)
    Rod Blagojevich (corrupt as hell)
    Dianne Wilkerson (apparently rather corrupt)
    Chuck Turner (apparently rather corrupt)
    the Asselin family (corrupt)
    Ward Churchill (effete, unAmerican academic)
    Jim Marzilli (likely mental health issues, lewd act in public toward women)
    Robert Byrd (was in the Klan a few decades ago)
    Ted Kennedy (Chappaquiddick)
    Barack Obama (President, uses long words)

    <

    p>Please refer to this list before constructing liberal strongmen.

    <

    p>People not worth condemning:
    Scooter Libby, who endangered national security for Republicans
    Bob Ney, in jail for corruption, but a Republican
    Duke Cunningham, who accepted bribe money but is a Republican
    David Vitter, who mixes prostitutes and diapers, but is a Republican
    George W Bush, who clears brush
    Dick Cheney, who wears a cowboy hat
    Derek Black, current KKK member elected to Florida Republican Executive Committee in 2008

    <

    p>(This list subject to change)

    • … Norm Coleman:

      <

      p>

      I can’t think of a good reason why Rod Blagojevich has become the most hated man in America while Norm Coleman still walks the streets with his head held high.

      …

      …Nasser Kazeminy, a wealthy businessman and close Coleman friend, allegedly paid him $75,000 under the table.

      And by “allegedly,” I mean “almost certainly.”

      • Andrew Sullivan:

        A reader writes:

        Someone should make the point that the theory on which Daschle did not pay taxes on an extraordinary non-salary benefit provided by his employer (car and driver) is exactly the theory on which Palin did not pay taxes on an extraordinary benefit (free air travel for her children, and 60 dollar per day per diem payments for use of her own house).

           Palin never paid back taxes but simply produced a squirrelly letter from her lawyers saying that someone could believe in good faith that taxes were not owed on the travel or per diems she received, so her failure to report those items as income was excusable.

        <

        p>H/t Jed L of dKos

    • I’m hopeful Diaper Dave, aka Poopy Diaper Man, has a long career in politics so we can simply remind people on a regular basis that he is, in fact, Diaper Dave, aka Pooper Diaper Man.  

      <

      p>We need more Diaper Daves in the Republican party.  Perhaps he made some friends while he was practicing to be an astronaut?  

  2. Tomorrow Obama is announcing a dozen new cabinet positions. As soon as those nominees have paid their back taxes, he will create more cabinet positions until we’ve turned our deficit into a surplus.

    • Bill Gates, Secretary of Interior Design
      Warren Buffett, Secretary of Paperweights
      Lawrence Ellison, Secretary of Compound Words
      Jim Walton, Secretary of Ripping People Off

      <

      p>etc…

    • … I often get the sense he would rather be mean, that correct.  I hope I’m wrong.  I do enjoy his writing, but I don’t consider it all the professional.

        • He did a number on Wesley Clark back when he was still writing for New York Magazine (as I recall) that I’ll never forget.  He is a bright guy who has had gigs that allowed him rather wide parameters.  Good for him.  Personally, I find him refreshing, and I enjoy his appearances on Bill Maher’s show.  In a more clinical sense, his writing is all the things good writing should be.  His facility with the language is second to none.  

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