[Rhodes22-list] Politics - Sen. Ted Stevens

Tue Oct 28 19:36:37 EDT 2008

Ben,

Thank god you are here to keep the list from 'going into irons' and turning
into some fringe conspiracy obsessed 'ship of fools'.

Pete

Hank-5 wrote:
> 
> 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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