Subject: Re The American Oligarchy Personified (Borlin).
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 092619 -0600
From: Roy Beavers
To: guru , gephardt@mail.house.gov
--------------------------------------------------
......Response from EMF-L.......
I am frequently pleasantly pleased by the understanding and interest in
the U.S. political "stuff" which I occasionally forward on this network.
Particularly when it comes from the "overseas" readers -- as it often
does..... Below is a recent example.....
I answer Wille by saying: yes, we do have in the U.S. the equivalent
of your "lawful disqualification"..... We usually refer to it as:
**conflict of interest.** As, for example, when a scientist working
for a pharmaceutical company passes upon (or publicly endorses) the
worth and safety of a particular medication produced by the company
which employs him (or her). Another (bad!!!) example: the safety of
cell phones is now being tested in the U.S. by the cell phone industry,
itself -- under an agreement entered into with the FDA.....!!!
In the Katherine Harris example below -- clearly she is in a **conflict
of interest** situation..... Such situations occur so frequently in
U.S. political/public life that the public appears to be inured to the
consequences..... The public hardly ever even protests about these
cases anymore!!!
It is a public scandal!!! And, it is but another example of the depth
of the corruption in our system..... I would expect that -- if ever
taken to court -- her case would be ruled as 'improper performance of
official duties,' due to the obvious conflict of interest situation.....
She was the co-chairman (with Governor Jeb Bush) in the state of Florida
of the "Bush for President" campaign.....
There is a whole file about this "conflict of interest" problem in the
EMF saga on the guru's website. Look for "conflicts.".....guru.....
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: The American Oligarchy Personified...
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 13:16:06 +0100
From: WILLE B
RLIN
To: roy@emfguru.com
References: <3A121F0B.BC3E896@emfguru.com>
SIGH !!!!
In courts you have something like " lawful disqualification", you canīt judge
over your relatives etc. Isnīt that applicable to an issue so important as an
election in a democracy?
The only one person who is strenghtened by the election-fiasco in the US, and
the following limbo-government, is Mr Greenspan. He will for the next four
years be the actual powercenter in the US. I think that is frightening.
Wille Borlin
P.S. It is interesting to find from the article that; "Mrs Harris who is
married with a teenage daughter..........................
Is she lesbian also? D.S.
Roy Beavers skrev:
> .........From EMF-L........
>
> The lady below personifies what has happened to the American democracy.
> She, **alone,** will decide that the thousands of (mostly poor and black)
> votes in Florida -- which are presently the subject of a number of federal
> and state law suits -- will not be counted in the recent election......
> .......guru....
>
> London Times
> EDITOR TUESDAY NOVEMBER 14 2000
>
> US Election 2000
>
> FROM BEN MACINTYRE IN WASHINGTON
>
> KATHERINE HARRIS, multi-millionaire, avid supporter of George W. Bush
> and Florida's Secretary of State, may represent the Republican
> candidate's best remaining hope of clinching victory in the
> presidential election. Ms Harris flatly declined yesterday to extend an
> election deadline to accommodate manual recounting of the votes in
> several Florida counties, prompting outrage among Democrats, delight
> among Republicans, fresh litigation and a new flood of controversy, to
> which she is no stranger. The Republican camp opposes the hand recounts,
> which are likely to produce additional votes for Al Gore and could swing
> the election by wiping out Mr Bush's slim lead in Florida.
>
> Ms Harris, 43, who took office in January last year, is a close ally of
> the Bush clan. "I am thrilled and honoured to announce my support of
> George W. Bush for the presidency," she declared after becoming
> co-chairwoman of Mr Bush's Florida campaign.
>
> A delegate to the Republican National Convention, she recently
> proclaimed that working alongside Jeb Bush, the candidate's brother
> and the Governor of Florida, had "provided a constant reminder of the
> power of values-based leadership -- the same leadership George has
> shown in Texas." Ms Harris, who is married with a teenage daughter, is
> the granddaughter of a citrus fruit tycoon. Last January she could be
> found, alongside Jeb Bush and other Republican dignitaries, during the
> primary campaign, handing out Florida strawberries and oranges in the
> snowy hills of New Hampshire, where she campaigned on Mr Bush's
> behalf.
>
> Her actions drew immediate suggestions of bias. "She is clearly a
> partisan Republican," Robert Wexler, a Democratic Congressman from
> Florida, said. He added: "The only reason to certify the elections at
> 5pm tomorrow is partisan one."
>
> When she took office last year, Ms Harris declared that she intended her
> job, usually focused on overseeing state elections, the arts and
> historic preservation, to shift attention to international affairs. Last
> month it was reported that the Secretary of State, inevitably nicknamed
> "Florida's Madeleine Albright", had made ten foreign trips to
> promote trade and culture, with an out-of-state travel bill of more than
> $100,000 (Ģ70,000). One of the wealthiest women in Florida, worth more
> than $6.5 million, she reportedly filed several expenses items for less
> than $5.
>
> Her globetrotting has also raised suspicions she is angling for
> an ambassadorial post in a future Bush Government. She raised Democratic
> hackles during the election when she recruited retired General Norman
> Schwarzkopf, a vociferous Bush supporter, to appear in a nominally
> impartial public television advertisement calling on Floridians to vote.
> A former executive at IBM and a vice-president of a property company, Ms
> Harris served for four years in the Florida Senate before her election
> as Secretary of State.
>
> Copyright 2000 Times Newspapers Ltd.
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Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com