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October 26, 2005 08:00 AM UTC

Wednesday Open Thread

  • 50 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

We’re having problems with TypeKey, so for now we have removed the registration requirement while we look for other alternatives to curbing the spam Colorado Pols receives. You can still use your TypeKey ID if it makes you happy, but you don’t need to sign-in anymore.

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50 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

  3. There is some even more disturbing news buzzing around the Internet regarding Harriet Miers, President Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court. It turns out that her law firm in Dallas paid $22 million  to settle a lawsuit that involved securities fraud back in 2000.  It’s a bizarre story, and one that will surely sink her nomination — and embarrass the Bush administration – if it makes it into the mainstream media.

    This story has not yet made it into the mainstream media (I do not know why); apparently none of the Senators on the Judiciary Committee know about it; and it remains to be seen if the Bush administration knows about it. What follows is a bizarre story, and it happened in Austin, Texas.

    In the late 1970’s a former NFL football player named Russell Erxleben set up a foreign currency trading company called Austin Forex International.

    According to the Texas State Securities Board and the Texas Attorney General, Erxleben raised over $50 million from some 800 investors, most of whom lived in Austin, for his foreign currency business.

      As it turned out, it was pretty much a Ponzi scheme. The State Securities Board and the Attorney General shut him down in September of 1998. Shortly thereafter, the Feds got involved (SEC, IRS, etc.). All of the money had disappeared.

    On September 18, 2000, a US District Court sentenced Erxleben to 84 months in prison, a $1 million fine and $28 million in restitution in connection with his conviction for one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, and a second count of securities fraud in connection with his activities as president of Austin Forex International, Inc.

    So what does any of this have to do with Harriet Miers? A bunch!

    The main law firm that Erxleben used was Locke, Liddell & Sapp in Dallas. In 1996, Harriet Miers was elected president of Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell — which later became Locke, Liddell & Sapp.

    On Oct. 13, 1999, a suit was filed in Austin alleging that Locke, Liddell & Sapp, under Harriet Miers’ reign, had developed “work product” including internal memos and notes that aided Austin Forex International in its scheme to defraud investors.

    When the case naming the law firm as a defendant surfaced in 1999, Harriet Miers was adamant that Locke, Liddell & Sapp had done nothing wrong. “Locke Liddell has done nothing improper and in our judgment never should have been named as a defendant,” she told the press at the time.

    Still, on April 14, 2000, Locke Liddell agreed to pay $22 million to settle the suit.

  4. looks like the original crime underlying the Plame investigation is still on the table. Fitz sent the FBI to Plame’s neighborhood to talk to neighbors about whether or not they knew what Valerie Wilson did for a living.

    Guess what? They had no idea, oops – there goes that talking point

    Critics of the leak investigation have argued that it was an open secret that Plame worked for the CIA; if many people knew that she worked for the agency, it would make prosecution under the 1982 law protecting covert agents impossible.

    But neighbors contacted by The Times said they told the FBI agents that they had no idea of her agency life, and that they knew her only as a mother of twins who worked as an energy consultant…

    “…I pointed out, we were good friends, we socialized with them, and we just had no idea” until her status was made public in the Novak column, Tillotson said. “To that moment, we had no idea whatsoever that Valerie did anything for the government.”

    …”They basically asked me if I knew what she did prior to the leak,” said Marc Lefkowitz, another neighbor. The answer, he said, was an unambiguous “no.”

  6. The settlement story has hardly been ignored by major media, it’s been covered by NY Times, Washington Post and Associated Press, among others.  On balance, I’d say it poses less of a threat to her confirmation than her bad hair does.

  8. “”I, as a conservative Republican, wouldn’t be pushing it as hard as I am if I didn’t think … these referenda were vital for Colorado’s future,” Owens said.”

    If Owens says he is a conservative Republican, then what about his love child?

  9. “”I, as a conservative Republican, wouldn’t be pushing it as hard as I am if I didn’t think … these referenda were vital for Colorado’s future,” Owens said.”

    If Owens says he is a conservative Republican, then what about his love child?

  11. LMAO, at least our conservative Republican men like girls!
    -0-
    DB, you can always set up one of those free accounts, use it to get your verification, then cancel or ignore the account. 
    That’s what I did so I could sign in as voyageur, without giving away my real name, which is Harriet Miers.

  13. Without meaning to be snarky, it appeared to me that we lost a few voices from the right when TypeKey was turned on.

    I really hope CP finds a way to turn TypeKey back on, or a different authentication system.  Now that it’s back to the “Wild West,” we’re again getting one-off hit-and-run comments, probably from the same people I’m guessing.

  18. Boy George, you wouldn’t know a real man if he ran his hand up your dress.  Are you still posting hate-mails claiming that all rural Coloradans are bigots?  How’d that work out for you?

  23. Aristotle and Spinoza are credited with originating the two major schools of ethics in the western world. I suggest most of you who post on this site read them.

    As a medical professional, who cares for homeless vets, mentally ill, the elderly and other frail prople in our communities (and yes, there but for the grace of god you also go- and yes, you’ll be old too some day), I see and hear a lot.

    I also have a wonderful son and daughter who volunteer in their communities, cheerlead their H.S. sports teams, get straight A’s and love their parents. I’ve been married to my wife for 23 years.

    Bring it on! And I have more credibility and ability than that incendiary quote from THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER! Mission accomplished, indeed!

  24. What brought on that spasm of self-congratulation, Sir Robin?  And didn’t Spinoza invent the spinning wheel?  Or was that Bill O’Reilly? 
    Harriet Miers for President!

  26. About Cuba:

    In 2000, the U.N., with the involvement and concureence of the U.S., developed a framework of eight goals to measure progress based on “sustainable economic growth, with a focus on the poor, and with human rights at the center.”
    Remember, for over four decades the U.S. Blockade of Cuba has attempted to prevent the island’s realization and development of everyone of these U.N. objectives. Note the tragic condition of Honduras and Haiti, both completely beholden to WTO and U.S. policies.

    United Nations Millennium Development Goals

    1.  Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
    2.  Achieve Universal Primary Education
    3.  Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
    4.  Reduce Child Mortality
    5.  Improve Maternal Health
    6.  Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
    7.  Ensure Environmental Sustainability
    8.  Develop a Global Partnership for Development

    Of the major developing countries in S. America, Cuba has by far the best scores in all of these measurements. That includes Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras. Haiti

    It’s important to note that the U.S. Blockade prevents many essential pharmaceuticals from entering the island. Cuba overcomes this condition by producing many of its own pharmaceuticals and sharing them with other Third World countries at a fraction of the cost of those produced by industrial nations.

    Island billboard reads: 200 million children in the world sleep on the streets, none of them are Cuban.

    Shortly after the Bay of Pigs, Russia left Cuba and took with it roughly 1/2 of the countries investment capital. What did Castro do? He built a self reliant, educated society. The facts speak for themselves.

    I’m not suggesting we follow a Cuban model. But to belittle what Cuba had endured and accomplished is simply ignorance on a grand scale.

  27. Republicans are such pretty flowers.  Like Voyageur, they are afraid….of everything.  Fear drives their personal lives and in BushCO’s case, US foriegn policy.

    Here’s a test.  If any Republican posting here is man enough, I’ll fight them in the Ring of Fire in Castle Rock on December 10th.  It’s sanctioned by the Colorado Athletic Commission and completely legal.  You’d have to pass a physical and an STD test.

    You’d have your chance to beat a bleeding heart liberal’s ass. Sounds like fun, eh? I know I’d enjoy making Voyegeur bleed. Any takers?  I’m sure Sven Bean would let us fight as an amateur prelim.  I’ve never fought MMA before, but this would give me an excuse to train…harder.

    http://www.rofmma.com/rof/html/

  28. Gee, a commie who is also a goon.  What a surprise.  Since I’m a Vietnam era vet, I may be a little old to take you on in the ring.  But why stop there, kevin?  Let’s do with M-16s to the death, the way we did with your peace-loving North Vietnamese brothers.  I don’t think you’re a liberal, I think you are a commie-loving flag burning, America hating psycho, Kevin.  Me Kevin.  Me Commie.  Me Big Man.  Me Beat UP Republican.  Me talk big when its only bluster on a blog.  Oh, I forgot.  Your side didn’t use M-16s.  But I’m sure you can get an AK-47 from your friends in North Korea.

  30. Typical.  Talk a bunch of shit and don’t back it up.  If there are any takers, I will fight.  I may win or I may lose, but I’d be willing to give it a go. Is calling someone a commie your fallback position when a progressive gets in your face. Pretty weak.

    Last I checked, dueling with guns was illegal, and I believe in the rule of law.  Don’t you?  It’s a quaint concept for Republicans, but it’s what makes America great.  I’m willing to risk a beat down; I guess you are too old and decrepit, but surely there is a young Repug with some balls.

    You are just reinforcing my belief that the GOP is the party of pansies.  Maybe you should adopt that as your acronym instead.  The POP, pretty flowers for treason and incompetence.

  32. Im shocked! Shocked I tell ya. Looks like Keith and Voyageur are declining the invitation. “Vietnam era vet”? Where did you serve and what did you contribute, Voyageur? What rank did you achieve? And you, Keith?

  36. Keith,
    Don’t confuse ten years of winning at the polls with success.  Record deficits, a quagmire in Iraq, and the destruction of New Orleans will be what folks remember about Republican rule.  The last time Republicans had a chance to run the country, we had the Great Depression.  I pray we don’t sink that low again, but who knows what the Repub;icans will do over the next few years.

    I guess you’re a pretty flower too.  Still no takers. The POP lives!

  38. Kenevan is dead on about Republicans, check out the next generation of these spoiled brats.

    Operation Yellow Elephant

    Another thing – email addresses are free all over the Internet at portals like yahoo, excite – take your pick.  I made a free anonymous junk email address at yahoo just for use on this website.

    I guess Republicans are just not that bright?  Maybe they are confused on which one of the Internets we are using.

  41. Wow, I miss this site for a few hours and it goes downhill fast.  It seems some of us never learned how to work and play well with others, did we?

    A few things:
    1. Of course Sir Robin is Peter.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a few more minikers out there to contend with the different personalities.

    2. Who the hell cares about Cuba?  If you think it is so great there, go become Fidel’s best pal… after you vote no on C and D of course.  By the way, when you are there can you send some Cigars?

    3. Grow up guys.  Telling each other that you will kick each other’s butts is kind of like making long distance prank calls from a pay phone.  Stupid as well as useless.

  42. Go Raiders,
    I don’t know for sure that I will kick GOP ass, but I am willing step up and give it go. Operation Yellow Elephant has demonstrated again and again that most young Republicans are a bunch chickenhawks. 

    A beat down is often times the only way to communicated with obstinate dogma driven assholes.  I take it your not going to step up either.  Typical. 

    If violence isn’t the way to handle things, why the hell are we in Iraq?

  43. Ah yes, the old thuggery concept.  Is that all you have>

    Trash talking like that will never get you taken seriously or establish a following.  This is a consisent probelm for the “progressive” democrat movements, you can only attack.  And until you learn that attack politics without a good candidate repeatedly fails, you will continue to be marginalized in the polls.

    FYI: I Earned mine in the US Marine Corps, where did you earn yours?

  44. Go Raiders,

    This is a consisent [sic] probelm [sic] for the “progressive” democrat [sic] movements, you can only attack.

    I didn’t realize Kenevan was a progressive Democratic movement.  He sounds more like a citizen who sees clearly how Bush has nearly ruined the promise of America, and is ready to kick ass to stop it.

    In other words, a patriot.

  46. I disagree with your use of “Patriot” in this case, though that is merely semantics.

    Like I have said before, if you think that President Bush is the cause of all the problems, you are unrealistic, however, your option is to find a candidate, develop a message and attempt to win the next election.

  47. I suggest this message for a winning campaign.

    “Bush is stupid” who knows, might work the third time!

    As for a candidate, I think Hillary would be a good choice. Don’t worry about having to pick up one of those pesky southern states. The NRA endorsement is over rated.

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