The news about President Bush appointing James Baker, the Bush family fixer, to manage Iraq's debt is just amazing. It's not just that these people have no shame. They don't even seem to know the meaning of the word.
Dana Milbank and Peter Slevin in the Washington Post give the basic news story: Bush Names Baker Envoy on Iraq Debt. This is a part of the story to remember:
<< As a special government worker [the classification his new job holds], Baker does not have to sever his private-sector ties, which include a role as adviser to the Carlyle Group investment firm. A spokesman for Carlyle, Chris Ullman, said any business ties to Iraq are "de minimus." >>
I don't mean to imply the reporters are being naive. On the contrary, Dana Milbank has been one of the most conscientious White House reporters during the Bush Administration. The article goes on to add that Bush's critics "appear to make an issue of possible profiteering in Iraq" in connection with the Baker appointment.
Josh Marshall explains about keeping it all in the family.
Baker was Old Man Bush's Secretary of State and campaign manager. He was in charge of the post-election Florida operation for Dubya in 2000, where he famously accused the Gore campaign of resorting to the courts when the Bush campaign was the only one that had gone to court at that point.
Joe Conason in Big Lies (2003) notes that Baker is a former Enron employee who accompanied Old Man Bush to Kuwait in early 1993 to look for business for Enron, along with Dubya's two youngest brothers, Neil and Marvin, who were also seeking Kuwaiti business.
Baker is a partner at the Carlyle Group, which Conason says "may be the world's most influential and successful company based on crony capitalism." When the World Trade Center was struck on 9/11/01, Baker was at a Carlyle Group meeting at the Ritz Carlton in Washington with, among others, representatives of Saudi Arabia's Bin Laden family.
2 comments:
Lemme see if I got this straight...a nation with a $7 trillion debt and a budget shortfall of a half trillion for the year...is sending someone to another country to help them with their $125 billion of debt...sounds about right.
Cronyism, the Bushites, and the Saudis -- what a country!
ever since i read about baker's new post, i've been trying to come up
with the right words. no shame, beyond shame......no, you've hit it. they
don't even know the meaning of the word. no conscience = no need to
have shame.
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