IT’S NOT ABOUT SLEAZE BALL TACTICS, IT’S ABOUT LYING
"They had a name, the loose confederation of right wing zealots and GOP operatives, for their operation
to tar and feather the Clintons through death by a thousand smears: It was called the Arkansas Project.
And Ted Olson, a close friend of Ken Starr, was, some say, the house lawyer for the Arkansas Project.
In fact, Olson, who also represented Bush in his successful recount case before the Supreme Court,
even co-wrote an article rapaciously attacking the Clintons in the infamous "American Spectator."
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"It will take a commitment by the Senate Democrats to ferret out the truth, which shouldn’t be hard to do. All that stands in the way is "Double Standard Orrin Hatch."
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BUZZFLASH REPORT Sunday May 13, 2001 at 10:44:52 PM
They said that it wasn’t about sex.
They said it was about lying under oath. All the time, of course, as the eight-year-war
on Bill Clinton proceeded, they kept bringing up the sex, like swamp creatures diving
down to the bottom of the bayou and bouncing back up with buckets of slime.
The right wing junk yard dogs were as at home wallowing in the pond scum as pigs are in a
trough of mud.
Still, every time anyone would defend Bill Clinton by pointing out that most politicians
fall prey to sins of the flesh, the Republican attack dogs would say it wasn’t about sex,
it was about lying.
They had a name, the loose confederation of right wing zealots and GOP operatives,
for their operation to tar and feather the Clintons through death by a thousand smears:
It was called the Arkansas Project. And Ted Olson, a close friend of Ken Starr, was,
some say, the house lawyer for the Arkansas Project.
In fact, Olson, who also represented Bush in his successful recount case before the Supreme Court,
even co-wrote an article rapaciously attacking the Clintons in the infamous "American Spectator."
All along, Olson and his cohorts pursued the Clintons with a rabid fervor, smugly proclaiming every step of the way that it wasn’t about sex, it was about lying and breaking the law.
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary once again postponed a vote on Olson’s
nomination to serve as this country’s Solicitor General. It is a position that is
sometimes called the tenth member of the Supreme Court.
It is a position that requires the absolute trust of the American people in the man or woman who holds it.
It is a position that cannot be held by a liar.
In his original testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ted Olson claimed that he did not have any involvement in the Arkansas Project. Based on subsequent information provided by a variety of sources,
it appears that Olson’s statement, under oath, was, perhaps, untrue. He, it appears, at best "split hairs" in his answers in an attempt to deny any involvement in the seedy undertaking. At worst, he out-and-out lied.
It will take a commitment by the Senate Democrats to ferret out the truth, which shouldn’t be hard to do. All that stands in the way is "Double Standard Orrin Hatch."
Indeed, reporters Jake Tapper, Joe Conason, Eric Alterman and Gene Lyons have all reported on the
evidence now emerging that reveals Olson even accepted legal fees from the Arkansas Project,
funded by the notorious right wing sugar daddy Richard Scaife, as early as 1995.
So, faced with the likelihood -- if the Judiciary Committee chooses to hear further from witnesses who can discredit Olson’s account - - that Olson may have been, as they say, "less than forthcoming
," what does Orrin Hatch say?
Orrin, apostle of the political double standard that applies one set of rules for the Grand Hypocrisy Party and another for Democrats, vows that Olson "will go through [and be nominated]… the Democrats know he’s
a quality person."
To which, Patrick Leahy and the other Democratic members of the Judiciary
Committee need to say: "It’s not about the sleaze ball tactics that Ted Olson was
associated with in trying to bring down a democratically elected President of the
United States; it’s about lying."
The Democrats need to exhaust all avenues in getting to the bottom of Ted Olson’s testimony under oath.
Did he lie?
For the Democrats to do anything less is a disservice to justice itself.
For further information on Ted Olson’s possible prevarications under oath, see:
salon.com
slate.msn.com
washingtonpost.com
msnbc.com
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL COMMENTARY
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