[Rhodes22-list] Politics - Sen. Ted Stevens

[Hank]

Ben,

Unfortunately, I think your compass is out of calibration and you have run
aground.  Hopefully, you can get is repaired at the shipwright and begin to
sail a true course!

How's that for sailing references on a political site!

Hank


On 10/28/08, Ben Cittadino <bcittadino at dcs-law.com> wrote:
>
>
> Brad;
>
> Of course you make an excellent point.  But look at it this way.  Who did
> Stevens turn to when his life was on the line and he needed a "character
> witness" who would be above reproach.  He  has been a Senator for something
> like 40 years.  He could have chosen anybody he had worked with over that
> time to help him out.  He chose Colin Powell. I'd say his seeking that
> endorsement, (which had nothing to do with the facts of the case against
> Stevens) speaks volumes about the esteem with which Powell is held in this
> country.
>
> Look, Powell was mislead about WMD's extant in Iraq and I'm sure he has
> made
> other mistakes in his life. He could be wrong about Obama. But when there
> is
> such massive information and mis-information and dis-information "floating
> around"(note sailing reference Metaphor) about all the candidates it's nice
> to have a strong "anchor" (another sailing reference) to help you keep from
> "running  aground"(Holy Cow, a veritable plethora of sailing references).
>
> Powell acts as a "pole star" (I can't stand it, more sailing references.
> Metaphor are you getting this?) for those of us navigating (ditto) these
> troubled waters(TA DA!!).
>
> Thank you ladies and gentlemen. I'll be here all week.
>
> Have a great day Brad.
>
> Ben C.
>
> Ben
>
> Brad Haslett-2 wrote:
> >
> > Ben,
> >
> > Conservatives are pretty happy with the outcome of the Stevens trial.
> > I just stumbled across the little jewel published a few weeks ago
> > during the trial.  Maybe an endorsement from Powell isn't all it's
> > cracked-up to be.
> >
> > Brad
> >
> > -------------------------
> >
> > Colin Powell: Stevens reputation 'sterling'
> >
> >
> > By ERIKA BOLSTAD and RICHARD MAUER
> > Anchorage Daily News
> >
> > (10/10/08 11:28:18)
> >
> > WASHINGTON - One of the nation's best-known retired Army generals,
> > Colin Powell, described Sen. Ted Stevens in court today as a "trusted
> > individual" and a man with a "sterling" reputation.
> >
> > "He was someone whose word you could rely on," said Powell, secretary
> > of state in President Bush's first term, who self-deprecatingly
> > described himself as someone who retired as the chairman of the Joint
> > Chiefs of Staff and then "dabbled a bit in diplomacy."
> >
> > Stevens, on trial for lying about gifts on financial disclosure forms,
> > has the right to ask character witnesses to speak on behalf of his
> > "truthfulness and veracity." The first such character witness, Sen.
> > Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, spoke Thursday. Another three are set to
> > testify on Stevens' behalf, but the highest-profile witness, by far,
> > will be Powell.
> >
> > The former secretary of state said he had known Stevens for 25 years,
> > mostly in the senator's role as the top defense appropriator on a
> > Senate defense appropriations committee. In Stevens, "I had a guy who
> > would tell me when I was off base, he would tell me when I had no
> > clothes on, figuratively, that is, and would tell me when I was right
> > and go for it," Powell said. "He's a guy who, as we said in the
> > infantry, we would take on a long patrol."
> >
> > When asked outside of the courtroom after his testimony whether
> > Stevens asked him personally to testify to his character, Powell said
> > he couldn't recall if it was the senator or one of his lawyers. But he
> > didn't think twice about testifying, Powell said.
> >
> > "Not at all," he said, snapping his fingers to signify it was a snap
> > decision.
> >
> > Powell's endorsement followed a morning of testimony from people who
> > worked on Stevens' home and were paid by Stevens and his family, or
> > were aware of gifts he had received.
> >
> > The former chairman of a nonprofit in Alaska testified that he was
> > directed by a close friend of Stevens to "create a paper trail" that
> > would show a husky puppy given to the senator was worth one-fourth
> > what the friend paid for it.
> >
> > Stevens, 84, faces charges of failing to disclose more than $250,000
> > in gifts between 1999 and 2006. Most of that total involved a major
> > renovation project that doubled the size of Stevens' home in Girdwood,
> > with much of the work allegedly done for free by an oil-field service
> > company run by Stevens' friend Bill Allen.
> >
> > The testimony Friday morning, on the 10th day of trial, was only about
> > a dog, but it's also part of the case against Stevens.
> >
> > Ronald Rainey, a retired utility worker from Soldotna, was called by
> > Stevens' defense to discredit a prosecution contention that the
> > blue-eyed husky was a $1,000 dog -- a value far in excess of the $285
> > gift limit in effect for the Senate that year.
> >
> > Rainey testified that the Kenai River Sportfishing Association gave
> > the dog to Stevens, not the man who bid $1,000 for it at the group's
> > annual charity auction. The bidder was Bob Penney, an Anchorage real
> > estate developer, the founder of the association and Stevens' good
> > friend.
> >
> > But if Penney bought the dog with his $1,000 bid, why did Stevens
> > report it in his 2003 Senate disclosure as a gift from the association
> > with a value of $250?
> >
> > According to Rainey, Penney bid up the value of the dog. When the
> > auction hammer came down, he was the last bidder.
> >
> > "It was a joke," Rainey said. "We knew he got stuck with something he
> > didn't want."
> >
> > Rainey described Penney as the founder of the association. He still
> > had huge sway over the group, Rainey said. Penney proposed donating
> > the dog back to the association; the association would then give it to
> > someone who wanted it, Rainey said. That would be Stevens and his
> > wife, Catherine, he testified.
> >
> > But the document prepared by the association the night of the auction,
> > shown to the jury earlier as a prosecution exhibit, showed Penney won
> > the bid and took the dog. The statement listed the dog's fair market
> > value as $500 and the paid-in-full bid as $1,000.
> >
> > On Wednesday, the government introduced an e-mail written by Stevens
> > to Penney on May 2, 2004, 10 months after the auction, in which he
> > complained he was filling out his "GD disclosure form" and had a
> > problem with the dog. Penney couldn't give him the dog because it was
> > worth more than $285, Stevens said. He said the gift instead should be
> > a present from the association.
> >
> > "In May of 2004, Bob Penney asked you to create a paper trail
> > concerning the sled dog?" asked prosecutor Nicholas Marsh.
> >
> > "That's correct," Rainey said.
> >
> > An e-mail introduced Friday from Rainey to Penney on May 6, 2004, said
> > the association considered the dog was a "thank-you" to Stevens for
> > all his work on its behalf.
> >
> > "You did this because Bob Penney asked you to create a paper trail?"
> Marsh
> > said.
> >
> > "Yes," said Rainey. But he said the documentation reflected the
> > association's intent at the time of the auction.
> >
> > Earlier, the defense provided the names of 10 character witnesses it
> > hoped would testify for Stevens. But the judge said he would only
> > allow five, a more usual number.
> >
> > Another proposed witness, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., is probably too
> > ill to testify, the defense said. The defense said it would like to
> > call Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, former Transportation Secretary William
> > Coleman, former District of Columbia council member John Ray, Olympic
> > medalist and sportscaster Donna DeVerona and a fellow veteran from
> > Stevens' World War II Army Air Corps unit, Leroy Parramore.
> > __________________________________________________
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> >
>
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