October 24, 2005

Will a "third-rate burglary" be Miers undoing?
by Liza Sabater

I have been enjoying the Miers circus of excuses and accusations coming from the right-wing blogs and newscasters. I really could not believe there were right-wingers against this nomination but, lo and behold, yes, there are many in the right who are not happy with this nomination. What I could not believe even more is the willingness of some on the left to give the woman a pass because ... well ... she is a woman.

Well, chalk one up for the fundies. They're hot on a trail to something really big that could add even more weight to the calls for IMPEACH - REMOVE - JAIL.

I have been particularly surprised by the Harriet Miers "lottery scandals" series they've been running at WorldNetDaily. You'd think they were the liberal media attacking the woman's integrity :

WorldNetDaily: Miers was player in Texas Lottery coverup || Larry Litwin was fired in 1997 as executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission because then-Governor George Bush wanted an investigation into possible criminal political-influence buying squashed, and then-commissioner Harriet Miers, a Bush appointee, complied with his wishes and terminated him --that is the story Litwin is prepared to tell the Senate Judiciary Committee. Litwin's concerns over corruption in the agency he directed involved GTECH, the Rhode Island company that operated the lottery, prominent Texas lobbyists on GTECH's payroll, and a laundry list of Texas politicians --Democrat and Republican. Those details and the facts surrounding his firing will be offered to the Senate Judiciary Committee as soon as GTECH delivers a letter to committee staff releasing him from a 1998 gag order negotiated to end his wrongful termination federal lawsuit against GTECH.

WND has learned Littwin's testimony will disclose bi-partisan corruption, with money changing hands in a political influence buying scheme that spread Texas lottery money around widely, to Democrats and Republicans alike. Sources say Littwin's testimony will put new light on the over $160,000 in payments the Bush gubernatorial campaigns made to Harriet Miers' Locke Liddell law firm, including the $19,000 she was paid in 1995 to act as Bush's personal emissary in a mission to make sure Ben Barnes kept the lid on George Bush's explanation of preferential treatment he received when getting into the Texas Air National Guard ahead of a long list of other applicants.

It's a really long yet fascinating article on how from her position as lottery commissioner, Miers basically was using its money to cover-up Bush's National Guard records.

Yes, you read that right.

Harriet Miers was instrumental in squashing evidence of Bush's National Guard attendance record. The same records that were 'leaked' to CBS and then deemed to be 'forged'. The same records that became Dan Rather's undoing.

An examination of the record gives lie to the claim Miers "cleaned up the Texas lottery scandals." In 1995, when Governor Bush first appointed Miers as chairperson of the Lottery Commission, J. David Smith and Ben Barnes were busy buying influence in Texas for GTECH below the radar screen. The "scandal" blew up when the federal prosecutors in New Jersey published pre-sentencing recommendations in J. David Smith's criminal conviction, a report that openly pointed an accusing finger at Ben Barnes. When Harriet Miers left the commission in 2000, anticipating she would be awarded a position in the White House should George Bush win the presidency, GTECH still had the Texas contract and all investigations of political-influence buying in GTECH's Texas lottery contract had been effectively squashed. That may all change once Larry Littwin begins testifying. As cautioned before, Larry Littwin may turn out to be George Bush's John Dean.

In Watergate, it took one "third-rate burglary" to open the investigation that brought down Nixon as his second term was beginning and Vietnam was playing to defeat. George W. Bush's second term is still in its first year and we are yet struggling in Iraq. The comparison is painful.

In nominating Harriet Miers, President Bush has managed to re-open, on a national stage, the Texas lottery scandals and the National Guard controversy. Before it is finished, we may be examining how lotteries buy political influence in America today, as well as replaying the debate over Vietnam that characterized much of the 2004 presidential campaign.

It's time for the President to withdraw this dreadful nomination or, if politics dictate, Harriet Miers to withdraw herself from consideration, so we might avoid another long, painful, and needless examination of old matters that probably would be better off never exhumed.

This article, by the by, was written by that stalwart of conservative values known as Jerome Corsi. The same guy that wrote "Unfit for Command – Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry."

Un. be. liveable.

This all seems plausible to me. Then again, this is the same publication that is promoting this piece of mental crapulence that is trying to pass as an example of judicial scholarship.

Posted by Liza Sabater in Corruption, Democrats, George W. Bush, Harriet Miers, Republicans, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
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