Dershowitz: "Katherine Harris - Still a Crook"

[Laura PourMeADrink]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-dershowitz/katherine-harris-still_b_21494.html

Back in November 2000, while Katherine Harris was hard at work trying to suppress the voters' will by preventing a presidential election recount, I commented on Wolf Blitzer's program that the then-Florida Secretary of State was a crook. I thought it was significant that the person charged with handing Florida ballots was not only deeply entangled in the Bush campaign, but that she also had a history of corruption.

The backstory behind my allegation - entirely true and unchallenged - was that during Harris's 1994 state senate campaign, she had taken over $20,000 in illegal contributions. (The story was especially strange, given that Harris is independently wealthy. The University of Florida's football stadium is named after her grandfather.) Harris's campaign manager took the fall and was named an un-indicted co-conspirator in the subsequent criminal investigation that landed the corporate donor's founder in prison for five months. Two years later, Harris shamelessly sponsored a bill favorable to the offending corporation from which she had taken the $20,000 at the request of its lobbyists.

For pointing out Harris's seedy past I was subject to a barrage of abuse from the likes of The Washington Times ("When This is All Over, We Spray for Lawyers"), The Weekly Standard ("The Politics of Personal Destruction"), National Review ("Alan Dershowitz, Goofball"), and of course, various FoxNews shows.

Then, last Friday, the Boston Globe reported that Harris, now a congresswoman, faces the exact same charges and has offered up the same feeble defense as she did back in the '90s. Prosecutors are accusing Harris, among others, of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions from defense contractor Mitchell Wade. "Wade then discussed getting specific defense appropriations with Harris and Goode or their staffs, according to court documents." The story goes on to relate an incident in which Wade and Harris met for a dinner costing $2,800, which Wade paid for, in violation of House ethics rules. Harris's excuse is that "she didn't eat or drink much at the dinner and that she thought her staff had paid for her share."

Katherine Harris, apparently, is the same crooked politician that she was in 1994 and 2000. The only difference is that back then, she was a state-level crook. Today she's a federal crook.

[joeunderdog]

1. How many years can you get for Accessory to Election Theft?

That's the one that hurts the most. Can the entire country of voters sue her for damages?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. LOL. Since Jeb snubbed her, I am hoping she will write a "Tell All"

[in_cog_ni_to]

4. She would be dead before she finished that book.

BFEE....lots of dead people in their wake.:hi:

[neoblues]

3. The Best Outcome

Harris tries desperately to win... so hard in fact that she leverages her personal/family wealth to several hundred percent... she not only loses in a landslide of biblical proportions, but is subsequently indicted for and then convicted for campaign finance violations of Federal and Florida State laws (and thereby loses her right to vote--as well as joining the ranks of the unemployed (and in this case unemployable) poor!

'Twould be a happy day indeed seeing such Justice done (though it would take alot more than that to achieve true justice--for helping to put W. * in office is among the worst crimes in history).

[Orsino]

5. That's not enough justice.

Harris may only now be realizing that she isn't in the club--she's a tool to be disposed of, if not buried along with the body. If the * crime family screws her over, well, that's just one more among hundreds of millions of Americans similarly screwed over.

We'll be giggling when she takes the fall, but let's remember that even Katherine Harris isn't a real player. That will just delay true justice.

[Hubert Flottz]

8. I've been praying she'd have a high altitude blowout!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. You're right. But you know, in a way, she was duped by Jeb.

And believe it or not, Jeb's popularity is at 57% !

[hlthe2b]

7. How is that possible?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

13. #12

[neoblues]

10. How so?

How so? As in what way did Jeb dupe her? Details please...

As for any low to moderate ratings; Awww, poor Jeb. Though, if he showed some passion for the office so that people considered him a serious candidate, his numbers might improve. Unfortunately.

As you say "believe it or not"--which addresses the fact that he does seem relatively popular, such that 57% seems a bit low. Is that statewide or within the particular district or among Republicans or including everybody?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. No, I thought 57% (state wide from May - surveyusa.com)

was too high!

This is just a personal feeling about Harris. She struck me as kind of enamored by Jeb and he probably played that up to lead her to do what she did to squelch the true results in 2000. Now, he is leaving her high and dry (thinking she can't win).

Maybe its a female observation. Weak woman baited in for their purposes and then thrown out.

Don't get me wrong, she gives me the creeps and she should have stood her ground against the Bushes - but she didn't and now they are turning their backs on her.

[neoblues]

14. Perhaps so...

From this man's perspective though, Ms. Harris is just a spoiled adult rich kid with an enlarged ego and immense ambition (lust for power). If she was led-on and later scorned by the male bushlings, and I have infinitely less than zero good will towards them, it just strikes me as the least she deserves.

That she behaved unethically and contributed to the Bush takeover of the Presidency (and subsequent immeasurable harm) is not worthy of reward; regardless of her reasons. Futher, I don't consider there to be 'honor among theives' and don't care one whit if such people either fail to display loyalty towards each other or decide to shaft one another. She should never have trusted the Bush family of opportunists; but then again, she's unworthy of trust--from voters least of all. Clearly such opportunistic politicians as the Bush brothers would instantly drop their promised and owed support for anyone who was no longer of political value (as Harris is given her massive political disadvantaged position). Indeed, it may be said that they paid their debt in getting her elected to Congress in the first place (to the everlasting shame of Florida; but one among many).

Still, you do have a point. Weak women baited in for nefarious purposes, outliving their usefulness and then being dumped, very well may describe some of what happened here. Even so, she already had a long history of corrupt political activities; she knew what she was doing and it wasn't outside of her normal, base character. She's merely reaped the rewards she sewed. You could add to my knowledge by explaining what you mean by "she should have stood her ground against the Bushes" though, as I'm not sure what you mean by that (and it may very well be obvious, I actually try not to pay much attention to Katherine Harris's exploits). I would note though, that if she recognizes her failed political situation and both sufficiently blames the Bushes and is willing to take some repercussions on herself--I don't doubt that she could air some dirty laundry that would really hurt them. Truths that deserve to be told... but she'd probably face prosecution for her role, so I doubt we'll see any of it. Self-protection being the operative human instinct here.

While I don't think well of any of the Bushes, Jeb seemed the least corrupt of the bunch (which admittedly is saying so little it's really saying nothing). Still, it's my sense of the public, at least in my part of Florida, that Jeb is relatively popular--for a Republican... so I wouldn't be surprised at a seemingly high poll rating for his prospects for Congress (or worse, the Presidency). He was very 'human' in his concern for the people (and business, of course) of his state during the hurricane devastation... one cannot know his real feelings--he is a politician; certainly appearing concerned was the necessary political role--to ensure the important state of Florida remains as favorably disposed towards the Republicans (and Bushes) as possible. Who knows. Even if he is a decent human being--which, given his brothers, and mother and father, it would be less than likely, he's still a Republican and suffused and surrounded with a culture of corruption. Not a tolerable choice for any national office. Let's hope you're right and 57% is a 'high' rating and further, that it falls rapidly if he seeks office.

As soon as America is free from the Bush lineage and their enablers (the Harris'es of the world), the better for all.

[YDogg]

9. Harris, Corrupt Contractor Dined Twice

http://theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060524/NEWS/605240371/1004

"When a corrupt defense contractor took Katherine Harris to a posh D.C. restaurant last year, it wasn't the first time he wined and dined the Longboat Key Republican.

"Mitchell Wade had taken Harris to dinner at the same highend restaurant, Citronelle, the year before, a Harris campaign spokesman said Monday.

"And just like the 2005 dinner, Harris has acknowledged not paying for her share of the 2004 meal. Spokesman Chris Ingram said it was an "oversight" and Harris has made a charitable donation in the amount that would have covered her share of the tab.

"However, Ingram said he did not know how much the donation was for or which charity got it. Harris made the donation with her personal money and not through the campaign, Ingram said."

<more at link>

[Javaman]

11. I think curella counts ceiling tiles for bribes...nt