Saturday, August 28, 2010
Arkansas Politics / Arkansas Media Reporter Vic Snyder
Posted by Max Brantley on Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 7:01 AM
U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder wrote a letter to the editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, published today, that chastises the newspaper for finding space to report that one of his staff members made a list of good-looking congressional aides but blowing off an independent group's naming of Tim Griffin, Republican candidate for Second District Congress, as one of its "crooked candidates" for 2010.
The D-G has its priorities, of course, and one of them is pushing the election of Tim Griffin. The editorial page just today arm-pitted Joyce Elliott, the Democratic nominee to succeed the retiring Snyder, for her endorsement by House Speaker Robbie Wills.
We've reported previously on Tim Griffin's "honor" by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington for his role in disenfranchising poor, minority and military voters and for his key role in the U.S. attorney scandal. But no harm in a reminder to all of where you might find that information. Said Snyder in part:
The election in November presents a stark contrast between two very different candidates, Joyce Elliott and Griffin, but in an election when neither candidate is well known, the failure to report to your readers what CREW thinks of Griffin, who has spent most of his professional life in Washington, does a disservice to voters.If the background and character of these candidates are understood, the 2nd District will elect Elliott, an incredibly intelligent, warm and ethical former school teacher and legislator.
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Comments (40)
Showing 1-40 of 40
Thanks for the link Max.
That information should be in every newspaper OP-ED around the entire State.
Terms like 'despicable' and 'slimy' somehow are just to 'plain' in describing Tim Griffin.
like
dislike
It looks like Joyce has found her negative campaigning surrogate.
Did Mr. Snyder remind everyone that the very same CREW attacked his good friend and colleague Mr. Ross last year?
Where is his concern about Mr. Ross' character. After all, he joined with Mr. Ross to host a fundraiser for her on at least two occasions. Do you think the voters of the Second District would also want to know that the CREW-tainted Mr. Ross has given her $2,000 out of his campaign account?
If Mr. Snyder is so concerned about CREW, it would be logical to call on her to return Mr. Ross' money.
Or did Vic just slap his name on something without reading it?
No rest for paid Republican campaign operatives even on Saturday, eh, Burn? It is a sign of an effective campaign, I'll give you that.
Burn,
You've put some stupid, stupid stuff on here before, but your reasoning on this one is so off base and easy to refute, why not.
Ross is not running. Griffin is. Elliot is.
By your own reasoning, Elliot brushes against slime, and Griffin is slime, and that makes them equal. I can rest easy with my choice. Your boi Griffin sure is a piece of poop; after all, in protection of individual liberty, which your Grand Regional Party professes allegiance to, I can think of no more important right than the right to have one's vote counted, and that's just what Griffin took away from so many.
You want a Washington insider who will protect corporate personhood, I want a local standout who will protect my personhood.
Go back to having babies Vic. You saw the handwriting on the wall and got out before Griffin trashed your liberal self. Way to go CONGRESSMAN GRIFFIN !!!
Burn, let's see Ross's issue with CREW was a profit on a pharmacy. Tim Griffin actively worked to deny many Americans their right to vote including members of the armed services overseas.
Besides, it's not like the Floridian R's picking a candidate for governor who was fined over a billion dollars for healthcare fraud.
Ahhh, November, another AT troll! Cannot win any points with that weak stuff. The fact that you support Griffin says a lot about you.
Wonder what your mother thinks of this stupidity!
Thanks, Max. Saw the letter, was going to run it down. You did it for me. You're the best!
Any report or ranking by CREW must be taken with several grains of salt. They are an admittedly group that has said that "We are progressive, and we do work within a larger progressive infrastructure."
Any group can call themselves "nonpartisan". It doesn't necessarily make it true, though. The fact is CREW has focused mainly on Republican lawmakers for their wrath, and the few Democrats they have called out have been of the conservative variety.
Still awaiting Joyce to disavow Mike Ross and return his money because of his involvement in CREW allegations. If not, then we can see her hypocrisy.
It's time for Joyce to go negative herself. Don't hide behind others, including this blog.
Man up, put it on TV and say you approve this message.
Quit hiding, Joyce.
"The fact is CREW has focused mainly on Republican lawmakers for their wrath, and the few Democrats they have called out have been of the conservative variety." Petronious
Checking the CREW action list in 2009 release gives me a count of eight Democrats in the House and four in the Senate while the Republicans had three in the House and none in the Senate.
And the D's (Rangel, Waters, Jackson, etc.) are not liberal by any stretch.
Democratic corruption aside, still stand by that statement, P-man?
CREW does what the House and Senate fails to do and that is keeping the f88kers honest.
Kudos to Rep. Vic Snyder for a spot-on LTE extolling the virtues of my candidate, Joyce Elliott. And kudos, too, to the ArkD-G for publishing it. They didn’t have to print it, ya know, especially since they’re strongly in favor of Elliott's opponent. As for the editorial arm-pitting Elliott, it would take far more than an ArkD-G editorial to plant negatives about her in my mind.
Gee, Burn, got a one-trick pony here, don't you? The fact that the R's elected a guy who works to disenfranchise legal voters says a lot more about your side than you care to admit.
I will concede the point that there have been actions taken against several Democrats, even of the liberal ilk. It would be very difficult indeed, however,to attempt to be a reputable voice against Washington's unethical behavior and not include Rangel and Waters in their targets, however.
Until CREW scrubbed it's mission statement, it read in part that it's aims were to "Counterbalance the conservative legal watchdog groups that made such a strong impact over the past decade.” That's a pretty strong indications of CREW's views to me, although there is an argument to be made that CREW simply had a change of heart and now the organization is nonpartisan.
Another useful way to gain insight into what values an organization holds is to find out where their funding originates. Personally, I have doubts that an organization that receives money from George Soros, the Democracy Alliance, and SEIU have intellectual honesty on their mind. That's just me.
"Personally, I have doubts that an organization that receives money from George Soros, the Democracy Alliance, and SEIU have intellectual honesty on their mind. That's just me." P-man
That's rich. So all that money that the Koch's, the Chamber of Commerce, Karl Rove and Ed Gillaspie that is going into actual elections is fine and you have no problem with that? Right?
If your standard is intellectual honesty, then apply it equally to both sides.
If you don't, then your intellectual honesty is lacking.
Do any of those individuals or organizations hold themselves out to the public as noble nonpartisans protecting America from wrongdoers on both sides of the aisle? No. If you can't see the distinction, there really is no reasonable argument that will convince you.
wannabee, would you accept as gospel a list of terrible congressmen if the group issuing it was funded by the Koch brothers and Karl Rove?
The stated basis for CREW's indictment of Griffin as "crooked" is threr-fold:
1. He worked for and was a protege of Karl Rove. (You might think about whether that legitimately translates into "crooked.")
2. He worked for the RNC and "may have spearheaded" voter suppression tactics (he says he didn't, and bear in mind that every "may have" might actually lead to a "but didn't" in careful analysis.' You might ask yourself if you'd like to be deemed "crooked" on the basis of something you "may have" done.
3. He got the U.S. attorney interim appointment that some evidence suggests Rove wanted him to have. (The Justice Department under Obama investigated; it did not indict).
Here's CREW's entry on Griffin copied and pasted from the CREW website:
Timothy Griffin
Running for U.S. House, Arkansas
Timothy Griffin is the Republican nominee for Arkansas’s second congressional district.
Mr. Griffin was a former aide to and protégé of notorious political operative Karl Rove. In the 2004 presidential election, Mr. Griffin was the research director of the RNC where he may have spearheaded Republican vote caging efforts, a legally questionable direct mail campaign to disenfranchise poor, minority and military voters.
Mr. Griffin was most prominently touched by scandal when he was picked to replace a U.S. Attorney in Arkansas who, despite being highly regarded, had been asked to resign. Emails between the Justice Department and the White House revealed that despite his lack of prosecutorial experience, the selection of Mr. Griffin was personally important to Mr. Rove. Knowing that he would never pass muster at a Senate confirmation hearing, Mr. Griffin was appointed interim U.S. Attorney for an indefinite time period under a misused, emergency provision of the PATRIOT Act.
Mr. Griffin resigned effective June 1, 2007, after less than six months on the job and in the midst of an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee into the political motivations behind the U.S. Attorney scandal.
"wannabee, would you accept as gospel a list of terrible congressmen if the group issuing it was funded by the Koch brothers and Karl Rove?" p-man
I don't accept anything as the gospel from anybody, not even CREW. You're veering from the question about the acceptability of that funding I mentioned. As well as not walking back your contention that CREW went after R's mainly with only a few conservative D's thrown in for measure after being given some factual material.
If CREW is for fighting corruption on both sides of the aisle, why are you worried about their funding source if there is no concern about the wingnut funding?
I hate corruption, greed, dishonesty, and fraud regardless of the side of the aisle where it happens. You obviously don't.
Too bad we don't have Fitzgerald as prosecutor working the Florida federal courts system or maybe Griffin would alreay be locked up with othersof his kind!
And the Soros comment, he is open as to what he supports. The Koch brothers, after one failed to get any attention trying to run for public office, have "astro-turffed" multiple conservative and liberterian causes as well as the CATO Institurte. They know their names are "mud" if it was revealed that they were the financial backer, along with FAUX, of the Tea Party movement. They are after repeal of the environmental laws, all of them, as well as labopr laws so they won't be facing regulation of formaldehyde in carpeting and plywoord, which they have managed to delay by spreading a lot of money across the Republicans and some Democrats through front groups.
Another matter of GREED!!!!!
'member "taking the fifth?" Shirely we do. It was only two years ago.
You can scan this official document which has Griffin's name all over it:
An Investigation of Allegations of
Politicized Hiring by
Monica Goodling and
Other Staff in the Office of the
Attorney General
http://www.justice.gov/opr/goodling072408.…
However, one must appreciate IRONY. The same DOJ was headed by none other than a person under investigation. Can one person in charge of Justice be expected to dole out Justice for himself?
.
But wait !! There were Black Panthers blocking voters in Chicago??? We've heard it a thousand times so ignore the DOJ report and follow the Black Panther report.
But wait!! There's Mike Ross donationg $2000 to Joyce Elliot (it won't even buy a radio ad run) so ignore the DOJ report.
.
Maybe burn is actually Griffin?
I weep for my country when there is a chance that someone like Tim Griffin has a chance of being elected over a decent person like Joyce Elliot.
Koch Industries, Inc. is an American private conglomerate based in Wichita, Kansas, with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading and investments. Koch also owns Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Flint Hill Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Petroleum Group, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Engineering, Koch Minerals and Matador Ranching Company.
Koch companies are involved in core industries such as manufacturing, refining and distribution of petroleum, chemicals, energy, fiber, intermediates and polymers, minerals, fertilizers, pulp and paper, chemical technology equipment, ranching, finance, commodities trading, as well as other ventures and investments. In 2008, Forbes called it the second largest privately held company in the United States (after Cargill) with an annual revenue of about $98 billion. If Koch Industries was a public company in 2007, it would rank about sixteenth in the Fortune 500.
Make a list and try your best not to use these products owned by Koch the owner of :
* Georgia Pacific paper and pulp company, maker of Brawny paper towels, Angel Soft toilet paper, Mardi Gras napkins and towels and Quilted Northern toilet paper.
* Invista, a fiber and resin company that makes Stainmaster carpet, and Lycra fiber, among other products.
* Koch Pipeline Company LP, that owns and operates 4,000 miles of pipeline used to transport oil, natural gas liquids and chemicals.
* Flint Hill Resources LP, that operates oil refineries in six states and has interests in a Belgian plant.
Also for the safety of your brain and America, do not read or listen to any bullshit coming from these Koch brothers owned institutions:
Koch Family Foundations
Cato Institute
Citizens for a Sound Economy
Americans for Prosperity
John Birch Society
United States Libertarian Party
Mercatus Center
Know your enemy! That would be Tim Griffin and the Koch brothers! Goodbye Brawny, I hardly knew ye!
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"Personally, I have doubts that an organization that receives money from George Soros<<
Can you name TWO things George Soros has done which are in any way dishonest?
I'm proud to call him a progressive. After earning his first billion he financed the building of leadership schools across the collapsed Soviet Bloc to develop modern business leaders who would have the skills to rebuild. Prior to establishing schools for the advancement of capitalism Soros was instrumental in bringing communism to its knees. Used to be that wingnuts would have applauded that. But Soros saw first hand what propagandized, totalitarian government does and thus he disliked Bushco.
He also served, along with George H.W. Bush, on the Council of Foreign Relations.
Unlike the Koch Bros, Hussman, Stephens, and Waltons, Soros made his own putting him in a distinct class with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archiv…
>>Maybe burn is actually Griffin?<<
Nay. Burn is the run of mill political hack posting standard oppo research stuff, just as Max indicated.
It would cost about $150 to find out the location of its registration.
Griffin is a nasty sob. Most likely Griffin was posing as blogger Liz Bein who has disappeared from AT/blog.
Let's just go back a bit and read about alleged . . . shall we?
http://www.gregpalast.com/bushs-new-us-att…
". . . In October 2004, our investigations team at BBC Newsnight received a series of astonishing emails from Mr. Griffin, then Research Director for the Republican National Committee. He didn't mean to send them to us. They were highly confidential memos meant only for RNC honchos.
However, Griffin made a wee mistake. Instead of sending the emails -- potential evidence of a crime -- to email addresses ending with the domain name "@GeorgeWBush.com" he sent them to "@GeorgeWBush.ORG." A website run by prankster John Wooden who owns "GeorgeWBush.org." When Wooden got the treasure trove of Rove-ian ravings, he sent them to us.
And we dug in, decoding, and mapping the voters on what Griffin called, "Caging" lists, spreadsheets with 70,000 names of voters marked for challenge. Overwhelmingly, these were Black and Hispanic voters from Democratic precincts.
The Griffin scheme was sickly brilliant. We learned that the RNC sent first-class letters to new voters in minority precincts marked, "Do not forward." Several sheets contained nothing but soldiers, other sheets, homeless shelters. Targets included the Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida and that city's State Street Rescue Mission. Another target, Edward Waters College, a school for African-Americans.
If these voters were not currently at their home voting address, they were tagged as "suspect" and their registration wiped out or their ballot challenged and not counted. Of course, these 'cages' captured thousands of students, the homeless and those in the military though they are legitimate voters.
We telephoned those on the hit list, including one Randall Prausa. His wife admitted he wasn't living at his voting address: Randall was a soldier shipped overseas.
Randall and other soldiers like him who sent in absentee ballots, when challenged, would lose their vote. And they wouldn't even know it.
And by the way, it's not illegal for soldiers to vote from overseas -- even if they're Black.
But it is illegal to challenge voters en masse where race is an element in the targeting. So several lawyers told us, including Ralph Neas, famed civil rights attorney with People for the American Way. . . ."
I'm not here to beat the drum for Griffin. And Sen. Elliott is, indeed, a fine person (not that I'm saying that Griffin isn't). But, hey, fair is fair.
eL: Griffin's name hardly even appears in the report. In its 140 pages, he's mentioned only briefly in connection with his sending an e-mail asking about the status of somebody else's background check.
And dott: That article is full of assumptions and editorializing and mistakes. It paints Griffin as the originator of the e-mail with the "caging" attachment, but as can be seen by the Re: in the subject line it came to him with that subject identity already established. Also he wasn't even the top name to whom the original e-mail was sent, so it seems debatable to assert that he was running the show. You might read his 23-page letter to the Justice Department to see his version of what was going on. I'm not saying he was't involved in some way, but I am saying the case that proves it has so far not really come to light, though some people seem ready to buy the notion, no matter what.
Gee, T&C, you seem to know a hell a lot of detail about this? Got a smell here or something. Yeah, Timmeh didn't know what "caging" meant! You want me to believe this about a guy who worked with Karl Rove? Said it before, Karl Rove put party before country in ways that bordered on the lines of ethical and criminal misconduct.
Yeah, if the voters of the 2nd district want this political thug as their representative, then voters of the last Arkansas district with any sense have gone red. And everybody suffers.
Got any ideas of what the R's are planning if they gain a majority in the House? It's not trying to help lead the country, I can promise you that. And Timmeh will be at the forefront with his pitchfork and torch!
Tim Griffin needs to be in the BIG HOUSE, not the US House of Representatives!!
Posted by RYD on August 28, 2010 at 12:31 PM | Report this comment
Here here!
"I'm not here to beat the drum for Griffin." t&c*
Pray tell, what is your mission, pilgrim? Is it to spread the word that Timmeh is a good guy? Above board, nothing to look at here, clean as a Bush whistle, man of people, defender of all that is good and righteous?
Sorry for giving you my attention. I will never get these three minutes back.
Wanna: You have an interesting way of reasoning -- i.e., if a participant seems to actually be informed about the topic of discussion you sense "a smell here or something." And you go for the "pilgrim"approach, eh?, as though you were a John Wayne character. You wish.
irradiate: Like I said, some people will believe what they wish to believe, evidence notwithstanding.
Like I said: Sen. Elliott is, indeed, a fine person, one deserving of supporters with keener intellects and moral compasses than customarily populate this forum.
OK, fine, T&C. Even granting your objections stated above, what qualifies Griffin to be the 2nd District representative other than that he was a Rove protege who replaced an otherwise competent local DA because Griffin wanted to come home and establish a political base? What recommends this guy other than that he is opportunistic republicant shill? I haven't heard a damn thing about this guy worthy of intellectual or moral consideration.
and why did he resign????? why did he call the voter caging plan "perfect"? why did he want to avoid a congressional investigation? isn't griffin one of the most washington insiders to be running this year? has he really served his country or just been serving his own interests and the interests of his party?
there may not be a roaring fire but there is quite a bit of smoke to make one suspicious.
I cant wait for the election. Lets see if Arkansans vote for a bald headed black radically liberal woman. You libs are really delusional !!...but you voted her in to run against a guy who has Arkansas values, not the "hood" values.
Fourche: The qualifications in law are minimal; be a voter; live in the district the required amount of time. I'm not saying he's the best choice. We can be fair in evaluating him even if we end up voting against him, can we not?
Jake: Good questions. It would be better, of course, if we had the answers and weren't forced to rely on mere suspicion and speculation.
November: It may be just me, but your remarks seem to me to have a racist tone.
"I cant wait for the election. Lets see if Arkansans vote for a bald headed black radically liberal woman. You libs are really delusional !!...but you voted her in to run against a guy who has Arkansas values, not the "hood" values." "won't repeat his username"
Let's see who has Arkansas values. Joyce was born in Willisville, Arkansas and graduated from Southern State College in Magnolia (SAU now). Tim was born in North Carolina, raised in Magnolia, and graduated from Hendrix.
Joyce goes into teaching in Arkansas and other states for thirty years.
Tim goes to England for school and then graduates from Tulane law school. Starts work in the political world (Washington, D.C.) usually as opposition research type or working for Republican-led investigations during the Clinton administration. He is a Rove protege and linked to voter suppression tactics.
Griffin is a carpetbagger. Really hate to think that Arkansans can be this stupid. T&C, keep beating that drum!
Quit kidding yourself. Melanie Sloan serves as CREW's Executive Director. Prior to starting CREW in 2003, she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, after having worked for Congressional Democrats John Conyers, Charles Schumer, and Joseph Biden. And she says she is non-partisan.
Pilgrim (aka T&C), not John Wayne by any stretch. You do meet the description according to dictionary.com!
2. a traveler or wanderer, esp. in a foreign place.
Keep beating the drums.
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