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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (287410)	8/15/2002 11:28:48 PM
From: DavesM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

re:"Lindh...Hell, someday he'll probably turn out like Patty Hearst ... living in suburbia and voting Republican" That will probably be what it takes, for his parents to disavow him.

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (287410)	8/15/2002 11:54:13 PM
From: Srexley	Respond to of 769670

"Hell, someday he'll probably turn out like Patty Hearst ... living in suburbia and voting Republican" You are probably right. Maybe I should change my post to his parents should be shot <g>

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (287410)	8/16/2002 12:13:59 AM
From: RON BL	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

GETTING RICH OFF UNCLE SAM MASSIVE RIP-OFF By: John LeBoutillier Yasser Arafat is a billionaire. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. He is but one of dozens of foreign leaders who have ripped off US foreign aid for their own personal fortunes. That, by itself, if a disgrace. But an even bigger disgrace is the fact that the United States Government knows this – and does nothing about it! For decades our foreign policy has included billions of dollars in foreign aid – and a large chunk of that is regularly siphoned off by corrupt leaders. We all remember the Marcos regime in the Phillipines. For years rumors swirled that Ferdinand and Imelda were living high off the hog – at US taxpayers’ expense. But nothing was done about it – until photos and video were taken of the now-infamous closet with 3000 pairs of her shoes adorning the massive shelves and floors. Those pictures spelled the end for the Marcos family in the Phillipines. Soon they were driven from power and forced to live in exile in Hawaii. Imelda, of course, has proven how short memories can be as she has returned to Manilla and established her own political career. Apparently ‘guilt’ is not in her vocabulary. While lolling about in the lap of luxury – thanks to you and me – her fellow citizens literally crawl through garbage dumps scavenging for food. This pattern is not confined to just Arafat and the Marcoses. For example, in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s Pakistan had its first-ever woman Prime Minister, the Harvard-educated Benazir Bhutto. A long-time ‘fave’ of the first President George Bush, “Pinky” Bhutto – as she was known at Harvard during her anti-American phase – Prime Minister Bhutto and her husband suddenly accumulated a staggering portfolio of properties. For example, they bought a gigantic English country manor and flew in elaborate furnishings from all over the world. They also bought other houses and apartments. All this at a time of huge US aid to Pakistan. When her husband was indicted for corruption, she claimed to know nothing about it. Yet to this day she maintains all the foreign residences – and somehow has enough funding to maintain them. Russia, too, has been the recipient of billions of dollars in US aid since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Writer Dominick Dunne has written about a trip to visit friends a few summers ago on the French Riviera. Seeing a fancy beachfront driveway guarded by scary-looking guards with machine guns, his host casually said, “Oh, yeah. That villa belongs to Boris Yeltsin. And the one next to it is Putin’s.” So the last two Russian presidents have side-by-side million dollar villas in France? Again, at a time of unprecedented US foreign aid to that country. Dozens of corrupt African potentates have also ripped off our aid for their own personal use. The now-deceased President-For-Life of Zaire, General Mobutu Sese Seko, was worth several billion - and owned mansions in Switzerland and France. He had dozens of relatives living in the fancy digs right up until his death. While he certainly ripped off his own people, there is little doubt that he also stole millions from our always-generous aid. The real scandal here not that these corrupt leaders are stealing from the foreign aid, but that our own government knows it and does nothing about it. Years ago I proposed to Fox News Channel that they do a special show on this, patterned on LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS – entitled HOMES AND FORTUNES OF THE CORRUPT AND CROOKED. Lots of aerial photos of these ill-gotten mansions and villas and reports on the secret Swiss and Cayman Island bank accounts. Nothing was done. But it is now time for US taxpayers to know that their own government is tolerating – even allowing - this massive rip-off.