Why Is Rich Pardon Holder—Not Hillary—Problem?

Photo of Mark Finkelstein.

Admission: Lawrence O'Donnell is emerging as one of my favorite media liberals.  On the one hand, almost exactly one year ago, his anti-Mormon rant spurred me to action.  But lately, watching him as a frequent MSNBC guest, I've been impressed by his acumen and willingness to call them as he sees them.  

Take O'Donnell's intervention on tonight's "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," where he made the salient point that the scandal of the Marc Rich pardon is, ironically, being held against AG nominee Eric Holder . . . while Hillary Clinton skates.

View video here.

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Host David Gregory broached the subject by quoting Richard Cohen's WaPo column.
DAVID GREGORY: Let me turn, Pat Buchanan, to a potentially troublesome area for one of his designees for the cabinet. And that of course is the Attorney General nominee, Eric Holder, who served, of course, as the number two in the Clinton Justice Department and got in a lot of trouble on this Marc Rich pardon that happened at the very end of the Clinton administration, on the last day. He's admitted mistakes.  This is Richard Cohen today writing in the Washington Post the following:
A better attorney general nominee you're not likely to find . . . the pardon excepted. But the pardon cannot be excepted. It suggests that Holder, whatever his other qualifications, could not say no to power . . . Holder was involved, passively or not, in just the sort of inside-the-Beltway influence peddling that Barack Obama was elected to end.
GREGORY: Number one, does this issue specifically come back up and is it part of a larger issue for Obama, about not living up to the sort of change that he promised on the campaign trail, Pat?
After calling the episode "squalid" and "seedy," Pat predicted that the Dems will nonetheless stand behind Holder.  O'Donnell then unloaded.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: The irony of this is that the single biggest problem we have identified for anyone approaching the confirmation hearing in the Obama administration is a Clinton scandal problem. And it is not being attached to the Hillary Clinton confirmation process, as she moves forward. I mean, this was a very deeply scandalous period in the Clinton presidency.
These pardons were going out the door and Hillary Clinton's brothers were involved in getting these pardons for people. And it is as dirty as we've seen since the Nixon administration: and it's hard to beat the Nixon administration.  But in those terms, we haven't seen anything worse. And for it to be haunting Eric Holder instead of Hillary Clinton is really ironic at this stage.
Too true. Will any of the rest of the MSM pick up the point?

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.


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Same Ol', Same Ol'

They are Democrats.  They have the medias up their butts.  They can do anything.  They are not accountable.

90% of what I read from the news media about the Democrats makes me hurl.

Ya know, somone of a

Ya know, somone of a cynical mind might argue that the media see Hillary as a threat in 2012, and think that if they can just shut her up as Sec. of State long enough, that a second term of obama will be in the bag. After all, Eric Holder is of no consequence. If obama screws up too much, he might be ripe for the taking in 2012 by hillary.

The question I have is, why would hillary accept this position? Does she think she would still be viable in 2016, or does she think that she can take advantage of any obama miscues with the more prominent position she will soon take?  

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

RESTLESS 1...I'm left wondering about 'Ol Hill's motives...

too. By being Obama's SOS, she will be tied, for good or bad, to him and his legacy.

If she is thinking of running against him in '12, I can't imagine how this will help her. And if she is thinking of waiting till '16, she will be near 70 years old, and I just don't see America voting for her at that age, if they wouldn't vote for her now. 

Just a thought... 

"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981

Prairie sky

Yeah, I can't put my finger on her motives, but somehow I don't think that "gee, I've seen the light and obama was the best choice" is part of her thought process. LOL. 

Anyway, it could be fun to watch this play out. :) 

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

RESTLESS...Nooo...I don't think she's Obama's new fan club...

president, either...LOL!!

But, like you said, it should be fun to watch! 

"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981

My take IMHO

She gets to be SOS and get some cred and experience. She expects or has already been promised the VEEP slot in '12. I don't recall seeing a cabinet member run for the nomination against an incumbent pres so there has to be the VP carrot for her.

If Obama does not screw up royally he will be elected again and she knows it. Another nomination loss would end her bid for the WH. This way she gets cred and experience for her resume with the only liability will be her age in '16.  As VP and SoS under her belt she will be in a strong position to get the dem nomination. Just my thoughts.

 Change: When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles. From a Poster

RESTLESS...One idea on Hill's motives might be this...

She may have read the tea leaves, decided that her biggest, best chance to be prez has come and gone, and if she stays the junior senator from NY, she'll never have a major committee chairmanship. Schumer will be there till he drops (let's face it), and she will always only be 1 of 100 senators, a face in the crowd.

If she's SOS, even Obama's, she will be out there, on her own on the world stage.  

"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981

Ahusser and Prairie

These are plausible motives. I just don't see this working out too well for her. Any accomplishments will be obama's any failures will be blamed on Bush and now hillary.

I just can't shake the feeling that she has something up her sleeve.  

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

Restless I can't see her grandstanding as SoS

Or undermining Obama. In line with my thoughts above she may feel the odds are long but it might be her only realistic shot at pres. Even as a Senator it would be foolish for her to run for the nomination in '12 against a maybe still viable Obama, if she loses that nomination it would end it for her.

At least this way she would be the frontrunner in '16. The proof will be if she is nominated for the VP slot in '12 and for that she will have to be a good little flunkie, if she can HAHAHA. If Obama is dead meat in '12 then she will of course be out as SoS but will still have a good shot in '16. If she can hold her temper for 8 years LOL it will be win win for her.

Another aspect I just thought of is maybe Obama made her SoS, with the promise of the VP slot in '12, so that she can be the cabinet "whip" as the cabinet and others are former member of her I mean bill's administration. 

Change: When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles. From a Poster

RESTLESS and ahusser...Something up her sleeve...

If she still has her eye on the White House, the stars will have to line up just right for her. Obama will have to be a total failure going into '12 and/or she'll have to be willing to wait for '16. If Obama is a failure, like we both have said, his failures will taint her.

It's a real crap shoot for the old girl, no matter which way you look at it.

Stay tuned...

"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981

I think Hill knows she is

I think Hill knows she is never going to make it as President, someone else in the dem. party will come along in the meantime to replace her that is more fresh, she is just making her name in history books in my opinion, she knows she is done in that way, if O makes it just fine with the msm aiding him all the way, like they will, she won't run against him again in '12, she wouldn't dare...by '16 there will be fresher blood...she may wait to be named to something more like SC judge or UN Queen, who knows, but she is going to make her mark in history and rule however she can until her dying breath/

Just my opinion.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

You are probably right.

I really thought that Senator Clinton was really after a Supreme Court position, though I was wrong there for now.

However, she is not the last Clinton on the planet now is she. I wouldn't doubt if Chelsea won't enter public service in the not too distant future.

Sen. Clinton has earned some big points in the party by being nice to the guy that defeated her, she was also given a name that will keep her name in the news, she is also gonna have some points in her favor also for not creating a schism in the party at the nomination. She may cash them in for her daughter, and play the good party line for now to ensure her daughter's future in politics.

Ain't it lovely, and here I thought we Americans didn't have an aristocracy, though the Kennedy's should have clued me into that foolish thought. Not to mention the Levin family here in Michigan.

Mike

I can't believe you all

I can't believe you all missed this.  Only 4 people to wack for the presidency.

[Edit: "Barry, you and Joe, Robert, and Nancy go enjoy your first State of The Union speech.  I'll stay at that undisclosed, secret location and finish that Tom Clancy book I've been reading.  That Executive Orders is a real page turner.  Domo arigato.] 

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."  - Sir Winston Churchill

Hunter... Well, now you

Hunter...

Well, now you have me laughing, if I were any of them I would stay away from Fort Marcy Park, just for a start.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

M30... ...plus we can

M30...

...plus we can always throw in the Udall's.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

BT It may be possible.

I guess that depends on where you want to throw them.

M30.... Well now...that's

M30....

Well now...that's a deep subject...   ;-)

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

How very eco-unfriendly of you...

What, with polluting the water table and all...

Ah heck

Ah heck M30....

Moi...

Why...I wouldn't do that...

I was meaning dry wells...sorry I wasn't more clear...I care very much about the environment, I am eco-friendly   ;-)

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Well good, I'd hate to have to report you.

I was just about to send a frantic email to Al Gore about your wasteful and callous ways. Glad I don't have to needlesly waste our limited vowel resource on such a letter.

Mike

M30... Me too. "America

M30...

Me too.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Glad we agree.

After all, America can not live on consonants alone...

 (Okay, I'll admit, that one was pretty lame, even by 02:00 standards...)

 Mike

M30... I'm LMAO! You

M30...

I'm LMAO!

You are a riot!

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

I'm gonna go ahead and assume that's sarcasm...

Please remember, I come from the land of Kwame Kilpatrick and the Detroit Lions, we tend to set the bar a little low 'round these parts...

Mike

sarcasm...heck, I meant it

sarcasm...heck, I meant it as it was funnier than hell...not the Watts Riot times.

I am going to assume you are a heck of a lot younger than me, when we said something was a riot in my time, (heck even further back than my teen years, try Jackie Gleason/Ralph) we meant funnier than all get out.

I really hope we are communicating here M30.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

No no, I know what you meant...

BT, age has little, if anything to do with it. I was saying that that last comment I made wasn't exactly "noteworthy" in the pantheon of human history.

Sorry if I came off as too sensitive, I was only joking about the sarcasm, it was either you were being sarcastic or polite (I mean, a joke about vowels ain't exactly Flip Wilson material (heh heh heh, who's old now...)

 As for the "riot" comment, I know what you meant. I just liked being able to mention my past mayor and the Lions in the same sentence.

Don't worry, we're on the same page when it comes to communication. Heck, if I were offended would I still be answering?

Mike

M30... Grinning from ear

M30...

Grinning from ear to ear...same page indeed.

Btw...I very well understood your wry insert about your Mayor and the Lions...I loved it too. 

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

What is funny is that he isn't the mayor, now he's an inmate...

I really don't know how much longer I can appologize to the American people for my state. 1837, the year the rest of you guys bought the fist "lemon" indeed...

We have a mayor in jail, a sub-par governor who has the ear of the soon to be president, we have a sports team that is actually painful to watch and now we're gonna stick you guys with a bailout for the automakers.

I mean, I'm only one man asking, but damn, there's gotta be a limit to how much God should be able to hate one piece of land...

Mike

Aw heck M30...This land

Aw heck M30...

This land is your land, this land is my land...

This disease is spreading nation-wide with the same predicament...just ask Ahhhhnold...and on and on it goes, state to state, As the World Turns.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Ugh, Arnold...

I still find it odd that people say that illegal's do the work American's don't want to do. I have friends I grew up with in the construction industry as well as trucking that have found it impossible to compete with illegal labor.

I'll probably never understand that argument. If they can destroy people's ability to make a living in Michigan, I can't fathom how bad it must be for people on the border.

If this is what is to come in the future, I'll have to start smoking and drinking more. I'm 30 and it isn't looking good even for people with a university degree.

Guess it's a race to see if the liver or the lungs give out first.

Mike

M30... Don't go taking

M30...

Don't go taking your chances on either one, it's about 50/50...give it your all, you are nothing but filled with pure potential.

You have to fight to get your message out...in whatever vehicle you use to do so...I know one thing, I think you will do just that...magnificantly.

Trust me...I know.  ;-) You, and others like you are the future...thank God.

Gotta' close...I cannot believe it's this late....er.. I mean early in the morning here in Big Sky Country.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Yeah, I was curious about that...

BT,

Thank you for your words. I was gonna ask why you were awake so late. I have to be, I've been looking after my parents after they both went south-bound on the health train. That's kinda why I'm still here, usually am at this hour.

 Now, if you think I'm the future, well, I hope you are alright with disappointment. Not too many journalism jobs in Michigan at the moment.

Either way, thanks for keeping me company while I did my doctor immitation with my parents.

I won't forget it.

 Mike

 

BT I still think

we will know the truth in '12 if she is nominated for VP. Someone as ambitious as she and 'this close' to the nomination last time would still want to be pres. She ain't giving up. If Obama tanks she has four years to get rid of the taint and we know Democrats (and most others for that matter) only have an attention span of 2 or 3 weeks :). It is a long shot but her only shot before she gets way too old. 

Change: When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles. From a Poster

Morning

Morning ahusser...

...good point, but what is O going to do with Biden?

Unless Biden says he doesn't want to run again....which who knows, but his son Beau is slated to take his place in the Senate, last I read somewhere.

No matter what, it will be interesting.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

BT Thanks

He's going under the bus with all the others. Besides it will be Obama's decision to make. I don't think Biden will be on the ticket in '12. The problem the hill will have is if Obama tanks badly the next 4 will she want to take the VP slot. Could be certain political death. That could be problematic. But where would she go after that scenario? Prairie Sky is right all the heavens would have to align perfectly. A lot of ink on this topic but speculating is fun. 

Change: When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles. From a Poster

→ Biden's task

Here's a great idea to keep Joe Biden occupied.

He can concentrate on raising the scholastic achievement of Washington DC school children to that of Iowa.

And when Joe attempts to banish black people from the Capitol, since he has already determined African Americans are the problem, Obama can drop him from the ticket.

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

bt...I share your thnking here...

Earlier in this thread, I said that I think that she may have read the tea leaves and has seen the writing on the wall that her best chance for prez has come and gone. Assuming that she has realized this, I think she is trying to secure the next best option for herself such as being Obama's Secretary of State, or like you mentioned, maybe down the road, SC justice.

We'll see...  

"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981

The whole presidency

Due to its arcane and twisted primary and candidacy route is a crap shoot. The winnowing process is now so strange and byzantine that only a certain weird few with strange qualifications can survive the process to actually become candidates. Voila barack obama. I rest my case. 

Change: When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles. From a Poster

I'm very surprised Lawrence

I'm very surprised Lawrence is saying this....then again isn't he in bed with Soros and Moveon...they are not happy campers at at all about Hill and Bill old admin. appts being made, let alone Hill herself.

I happened  to catch a segment this morning with Kiran Chetry on American Morning early today, I tried to find it, couldn't, where Moveon is beyond furious with all of this, last I heard this is Soros backed still.

I guess what I am trying to say is, they do not want what O is doing and who he is putting in...

I myself love it.

I could be wrong...no matter what, they are all the enemy to me. 

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Lawrence O'Dummy

I was fortunate to witness Mr. O'Dummy deliver one of his patented rants. Along with his attack on the Swift Boat Veterans, the Morman Church, and any other non-liberal cause, he was also involved in trying to silence someone who happened to suggest that the public school system was broken.

His defense was that his kids went to public school and that he personally saw marvelous teachers, administrators and classrooms. To even raise the notion that vouchers, charter schools, merit pay, or any other plan would improve the nation's education system was a lie.

As the person tried to present the reasons for posiible changes,  Mr. O'Dummy would simply shout over the voice of the other guest. You know, "freedom of speech for liberals" shouting.

Now of course Mr. O'Dummies children did not attend Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans, or Oakland public schools. He lived in a very expensive coastal town on Southern California. I think it was Rancho de Hombre Blanco. As many of my friends live in those towns I am familiar with the problems those schools face.

How to recycle all the empty Starbucks cups, proper speech when addressing a student recovering form breast implant surgery, etc.

But remember to Mr. O Dummy, all you non-liberals are just dumb. I mean the guy was responsible for that moronic TV show, " The Worst Wing".

JohnJ...Exactly right,

JohnJ...

Exactly right, if memory serves me he got banned for some of his blathering from msnbc for awhile and somewhere else too...I can't keep up with him, plus he was a big wig behind West Wing wasn't it....he is no friend, never will be of anybody who thinks different, he is after Hill/Bill for his own reasons/backers.

Btw...it does my heart good just to see them all cut each others throats when they can...that is when it is safe to do so. 

Just my two cents.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

If you are too Nice to Liberals You Will Only Be Disappointed.

Mark Finkelstein wrote: "Admission: Lawrence O'Donnell is emerging as one of my favorite media liberals."

Let's face it. Those on our side can be way too nice. A devout liberal like Lawrence O'Donnell gets it right occasionally, and we become fans. How soon we forget what liberals stand for, and how they can destroy this country and it's ideals if we let them.

Let's not forget how O'Donnell treated Swift Boater John O'Neill during the 2004 election.

Let's not forget what O'Donnell wrote about President Bush, Rush Limbaugh, and the Iraq War in 2006:

" There has been much speculation about how smart George W. Bush is, but
not even his most adamant defenders have ever suggested he is smarter
than Nixon. So, we have every right to expect that Bush will not be
even as good as Nixon at cutting and running. Bush will leave the end
game to his successor who, with the American people's approval, will
cut and run by following some variation on the Iraq Study Group's
report."

O'Donnell didn't stop there:

"Rush and Bush were wrong to think that having a "Mission Accomplished"
rally on an aircraft carrier wasn't a bit premature. Rush and Bush were
wrong to think a slogan--"stay the course"--was a strategy. And Rush
and Bush are wrong to think we can push on to "victory" in Iraq--a view
held almost exclusively by Republicans (like Rush and Bush) who did
everything possible to avoid ever being sent into combat themselves.
But Rush is right that the day our last helicopter leaves Baghdad,
America will, once again, "surrender without the words."

Lets not forget what O'Donnell said about the GOP: "The GOP embraces ignorance."

Let's not forget how O'Donnell bashed Sarah Palin. There are many examples of this.  Here is just one example.

---------------------------------------------------------

"They are actively promoting the decline of America." ~ Rush Limbaugh on liberals and Democrats 

Rush fan: perhaps I'm being

Rush fan: perhaps I'm being too nice, but don't forget that, as mentioned at the beginning of the item, a year ago I blistered O'Donnell for his anti-Mormon rant.  If I catch him going off again on anything, trust me, I won't hesitate to go after him.

But in the meantime, it is simply a fact that in recent times I have found him to be insightful and reasonable, and I see no reason not to mention that.

Mark: Point Taken

Mark: Point Taken

I may not appreciate Lawrence O'Donnell, but I do appreciate you and the work you do here at NewsBusters.

------------------------------------------------------------

Why the two Americas, the Left and the Right, can never reconcile - by Dennis Prager

 

Many thanks, RF.

Many thanks, RF.

Hillary pardoned Marc Ritch?

I thought Hillary was first lady then. I mean, we all know Laura Bush really blew the Hurricane Katrina efforts and that's a Newsbusters scandal for later, but shouldn't we just implicate Chelsea and Buddy the dog as well?

It has been alleged that

It has been alleged that Hillary's brother, Hugh Rodham, acted as a go between to pass funds to the Clintons plural.  Ostensibly these were "campaign contributions".  In point of fact, they were likely bribes. 

 "Rich's ex-wife, Denise, contributed $2,000 in 1999 to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign; $5,000 to a related political action committee; and $450,000 to a fund set up to build the Clinton library"

Hillary was up to her pantsuit in this.