<p>Democratic fundraiser and Hillary Clinton supporter, and convicted felon skips bail - again. Norman Hsu and his passport fail to appear for hearing. Bill Clinton gets knocked over by that same straw again. Why ain’t I surprised?</p>
<p>Maybe he will show up in a park with a bullet in his head from an unregistered handgun made from the parts of at least two different weapons covered in carpet fibers with blond hairs and semen in his drawers and no car keys. Then an extensive search of the park will turn up not bullet from the exit wound and the autopsy x-rays will go missing and a Clinton aide will be seen cleaning his office out and a suicide note will be mysteriously discovered in a previously searched briefcase.</p>
<p>You could knock me over with a straw if that happens.</p>
<p>We’re about to have some fun. Apparently Mr. Hsu was arrested in Denver this evening. The DNC and the NYT are disappointed. Look for the story in Monday’s edition…probably near the Want Ads.</p>
<p>Jack appears to be correct, Hotpiece – the article you referenced makes no mention of contributions to Edwards (rather: “Hillary Clinton, D-NY, Barack Obama, D-IL, Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, John Kerry, D-MA, and Edward Kennedy, D-MA.”) - and nothing shows up for Edwards with searchs of Hsu’s name on opensecrets.org or fundrace.org… so what’s your source?</p>
<p>I haven’t seen any connection to Edwards either.</p>
<p>Putting aside whether or not the recipients of mega contributions should or could have vetted their major donors (personally I think they should have: not every dollar but surely they could have checked those in the “Hillraiser” category…)</p>
<p>Anyway, putting that issue to the side for a moment, what really concerns me – and this is pertinent to this board – is that Norman Hsu was a trustee on the board of the New School. He even created a scholarship in his name. </p>
<p>Wouldn’t you think a university would do a better job of finding out whether a board member had committed a felony?</p>
<p>Pfffl. Money is the most corrosive aspect of politics and knows no boundary by party. But the difference between freelancers like Hsu and William Jefferson, and the K Street Project and the tortuous web of bribes and lobbyists in the Abramoff scandal, are vastly different things, though some will jumble of the words “money,” “politics,” and “illegal” to make them seem like moral equivalences. </p>
<p>No, they are not. And the whole rotten corrupt Republican machine is going down, regardless of what the Busheviks say. Going down…and some must already feel it in their guts and know that it’s true. To them I say, run in terror, run with hopes that will be dashed. It will make their ultimate defeat that much more satisfying to me.</p>
<p>BTW TheDad since Hillary is allegedly a showin for the White House Bed and Breakfast has she posted the new room rates for the Lincoln Bedroom? And how much is a presidential pardon going to go for now? Will they be more or less affordable than during her last term?</p>
<p>Oh and while we are at it is she going to bring all the W keyboard keys back her staffers riped off when the left the White House last time?</p>
<p>If you read the following <a href=“http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02360.pdf[/url]”>http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02360.pdf</a>
you will see that the GAO assessed the damage after the Clinton team moved out and found that there was no greater damage done during the 2001 transitition than during 1993 transitition (in some areas, less). The Bushies complained about it more, that’s all. Apparently Alberto Gonzales and the team had nothing better to do in those first days than wander around the White House counting how many desks had writing in them or how many candy wrappers were left on the floor. The GAO did not agree with the White House assessments, though they did alter a few minor details at the White House Counsel’s request.</p>
<p>The Hsu story just gets curiouser and curiouser and has taken on considerable “North by Northwest” overtones, not mention interminable “shoe/Hsu” puns. (Time to dust off Wag the Dog.)</p>
<p>My interest here is non-partisan, but I’m fascinated by the influence of the Chinese government on American politics, both on the left and right. </p>
<p>I think the New School and Kerrey (with an “e”) were especially remiss on failing to do even a cursory check of its trustees. Far too much trusting there.</p>
<p>Aside from where the heck DID he get his money? I would like to know: Is he really a US citizen? Does he really have degrees from Cal and Wharton?</p>
<p>So interesteddad you aren’t the least bit curious how a confessed felon can enter and exit the country multiple times, start several businesses, make a fortune, get on the board of trustees of a prominent school and give well over a million dollars to politicians and spend even more entertaining them, and never get caught? </p>
<p>This Hsu thing doesn’t pass the smell test. It is even more bizarre than the Riady Indonesian money thing, and I am not jumping to the conclusion that the Chinese are behind this. Somebody needs ti figure out where that money came from and if there was bundling of campaign contributions and those campaign finance laws are allegedly things the Democrats are very concerned about though I don’t hear them raising too much concern in this case.</p>
<p>This thread reminds of when I tried to have conversations with my mother, a lifelong Nixon supporter, regarding Watergate. Her response was always “They all do it. The Democrats are worse.”</p>
<p>Isn’t anybody interested in following the trail of Hsu’s money, just because it’s, well ,interesting? I am not my mother’s child politically, but I am truly shocked at Hsu’s list of recipients – Eliot Spitzer, Jerry Brown, Andrew Cuomo. These are the people who are supposed to be protecting us from people like Hsu!</p>
<p>interesteddad - No doubt your interest wouldn’t perk up any if the politicians were all Republicans. Confirms my suspicions that the only principle that democrats hold is the will to power.</p>
<p>List of possible campaign issues interesteddad is uniterested in:</p>
<p>I said I wasn’t “particularly” interested. I would put my level of interest somewhere in the general vicinity of my interest in how many hours Lindsey Lohan spent in jail. As with Lohan, I’m confident that the media will keep me duly apprised, without the need for an particular interest on my part.</p>
<p>I’m more interested in the upcoming Iraq debate, the Rasmussen daily tracking polls, and whether the Patriots win today.</p>