Special interests at play in the political arena. Money does indeed talk and what it buys is sometimes not good for this floundering dEmocratic Republic.
When a federal judge blocks an investigation into the possibility of illegal spending during a recall election it should raise some eyebrows, especially when the judge orders all the evidence gathered destroyed.
If you're thinking the name Koch figures into this somehow you'd be correct.
| PR Watch - The federal judge who ordered a halt to Wisconsin's "John Doe" criminal investigation into spending during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections has regularly attended all-expenses paid "judicial junkets" funded by the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and other ideological and corporate interests. On May 6, federal District Court Judge Rudolph Randa blocked an ongoing John Doe criminal probe into allegedly illegal coordination between nonprofit groups like WI Club for Growth, which spent $9.1 million on electoral ads during Wisconsin's recall elections, and the recall campaigns of Governor Scott Walker and state senators. ... WI Club for Growth director, Eric O'Keefe, a longtime compatriot of the Koch brothers, asked the federal court to stop the probe, alleging it violated their "free speech" rights. Judge Randa sided with O'Keefe, and also ordered prosecutors to destroy all evidence gathered in the investigation... An analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that Judge Randa attended privately-funded, all-expenses-paid judicial seminars put on by George Mason University in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012... The George Mason University seminars are bankrolled by a long list of right-wing foundations, like Koch, Bradley, and the Searle Freedom Trust, as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and corporations like BP, Exxon Mobil, and Dow Chemical. Many of these interests have long opposed limits on money in politics... (Link). |
Lying Lester's eyebrows are definitely raised, along with the corners of his mouth (Lying Lester is smiling). When money talks and it's the money of the uNions or pRogressive sPecial interests, that is bad. In this case, however, we're talking about the money of the Libertarian Kochs, so what their money bought is good.
That would be the speech of the Koch Brothers, and YES, this probe DOES violate the Koch brother's free speech rights. Lying Lester thanks the ghost of Ayn Rand that there some judges who base their rulings on the Constitution instead of legislating from the bench.
Byline: This celebration of good news in Wisconsin was expertly composed by Lord Lying Lester: Man of Reason, an exceptional individual otherwise known as Lester Nation. Purveyor of calling out schmucks. LLIN-071.
