Cheney, Gonzalez Indicted in Texas; Taxpayers Funding Gonzalez's Private Lawyer; Ted Stevens Loses Senate Seat
Hey everybody. I’m Farron Cousins, and this is The Daily Left – your interactive source for progressive news and commentary. Thanks for joining me.
Today’s top story – Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez have been indicted by a state prosecutor in Texas for helping privately run prisons abuse their prisoners. Witnesses from all around were called to testify before a Grand Jury before the indictment was issued, but the presiding judge has yet to sign off, and no action can be taken until that happens. Cheney is charged with engaging in an organized criminal activity related to the his investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds financial interests in the private prison companies running the detention centers. The indictment says that Cheney is charged with a conflict of interest and at least misdemeanor assaults on the prisoners because of his ties to the company. Gonzalez on the other hand is being charged with using his position to stop an investigation that was being conducted in 2006 into the charges of abuse at these privately run prisons. These charges actually anger me quite a bit. Cheney and Gonzalez both authorized illegal torture across the globe, illegal wiretapping of American citizens, and both conspired to remove their political enemies from office – and they get indicted for holding stock in a company and stopping an investigation? Is this really the only thing we could get them for? But, I guess its good that we finally got them for something. .
And speaking of Alberto Gonzalez, the former attorney general won’t have to worry about his legal bills while fighting all of these charges, as the federal government has decided that they are going to pay for his attorney. And where does the federal government get its money? From the taxpayers! That means that you and me and all taxpaying Americans are going to be footing the bill for Alberto Gonzalez’s private attorney, to help him stay out of prison. In typical cases, the Justice Department would provide legal counsel when one of their own gets in trouble, and a lawyer from the department would be assigned to the case. However, since Gonzalez had to have his own private attorney, the Department agreed to go ahead and pay for that too. The particular case that we’re all paying to defend accuses Gonzales and four other former and current Justice Department officials of instituting hiring practices that blocked liberal-leaning applicants from two department programs for law students. So be proud Americans – when you look at your paycheck and see the money that Uncle Sam has taken out, just remember – that money is being used to help one of the worst criminals in government stay out of prison. .
But we can take solace in the fact that there is at least one GOP criminal who is getting what he deserves. Alaskan senator, and convicted felon, Ted Stevens has now officially lost his bid for re-election. With only 2,500 ballots left to be counted, Stevens is still behind his Democratic opponent by more than 3,700, making a victory for the Republican impossible. In October of this year, the 85-year-old Republican was indicted on seven counts of violating the Ethics in Government Act in connection with failure to report gifts and services worth over $250,000 received between 1999 and 2006 from Alaska oil services contractor VECO. But even if he had won the election, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had already said that he would investigate Stevens and quickly eject him from the Senate. But the fact that the race was even this close speaks volumes. After all, he was convicted a week before the election, and yet almost half of the voters in Alaska wanted to put him back in office. Of course, given the fact that Sarah Palin has approval ratings in the upper 70’s in Alaska, that really doesn’t come as much surprise. .
And finally today, its time for our free T-shirt drawing…And today’s winner is…For tomorrow, we’ll be drawing another name for a free shirt from the folks who comment on today’s news, so let’s start the comments! .
That’s all I’ve got for you today. I’m Farron Cousins, and thanks for watching GoLeft TV – Citizens’ media on the rise.
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