emptywheel’s Continuing Obsession with Ed Gillespie
Via CREW, I see Ed Gillespie making grand promises that the GOP will have a scandal-free election in 2008.
Ed Gillespie, President Bush’s counselor and a former chairman of theRepublican Party, acknowledged that ethical scandals have hurt the GOP.He predicted that by 2008, the party "will not have candidates who haveany kind of ethical considerations that will be a concern to thevoters."
Like CREW, I’m not holding my breath that the GOP will be willing to jettison Stevens, Domenici, Doolittle, Lewis, and a slew of others.
But I’m increasingly fascinated with the prominent role of Lobbyist-in-Chief, Ed Gillespie. We now know he was included in discussions, in spring of 2006 (at precisely the time Andy Card and Scottie McClellan were ousted), about whether or not to fire Rummy. He picked up the portfolios of both Dan Bartlett and Karl Rove, two of the last hold-outs from the Texas Mafia. And now here he is, promising to do what Karl Rove couldn’t do–excommunicate the corruption from the Corruption Party.
The Lobbyist-in-Chief is accruing an awful lot of power in fairly short order. Is Gillespie the guy corporate America imposed on BushCo to ensure the Republicans not lose power for all eternity? And is Gillespie the guy who told Rove and Gonzales to leave?
And is this the guy that ran the â€macaca†campaign?
Americorp does seem to be worried about the excesses of Bushco, but I don’t think that the effort is aimed solely at the Republicans – perhaps some of the reluctance of the Democratic leadership to follow up on any number of the scandals can be attributed to big business pressures on the Dems as well. Harry Reid has signalled that he is willing to agree to the continuation of the Iraq occupation, Chuck Schumer has signalled he will let up on USAGate in return for an acceptable AG, etc. Somewhat OT, but in the useful idiot category, Lanny Davis, who was Clinton’s counsel during the impeachment proceedings and the whole Arkansas Project, came out in the HuffPo yesterday and promoted Ted Olsen for AG – one of the main organizers and paymasters of the Arkansas Project. As Atrios says, more and better Democrats please.
Keep going after Gillespie. Too much is happening around him too fast for him not to get proper attention. There’s probably some ratio between your posts and how long it takes for a news article and MSM coverage. Your post on the lobbyist-in-chief riding in to save the telcos and make sure the insurance companies had their brief read as WH policy was a great start, not that anyone will ever know about that but us chickens.
I wonder how Eddie gets along with Fred Fielding and also the 4th branch/OVP folks.
Have you got a point, emptywheel?!
Did you notice that Larry Craig got lawyered up? The kind of lawyered up one might need in an offensive, not defensive position?
Rumors out there suggest Craig’s not going anywhere without taking scalps, that he’d been extorted into leaving by GOP leaders…and that there may be some others outed before this is all over.
This could get interesting.
p.s. Jodi, look in the mirror, right at the top of your head.
Corporate America is running the country. The republicans came in with that explicit purpose, the real question is, â€Can those of us who really care about this country drive this influence from the democratic party, will we regulate or will we allow our party to continue to sell out†If not, a people’s party with the the main goal of removing the cancer of corporate america from government will be needed, and perhaps even ripe for forming a vast membership.
Larry Craig’s willing to fight back? Maybe now we’ll find out what Jeff Gannon was doing all those times after hours in the White House (and it’s about time these hypocrites started eating their own).
EW: â€The Lobbyist-in-Chief is accruing an awful lot of power in fairly short order. Is Gillespie the guy corporate America imposed on BushCo to ensure the Republicans not lose power for all eternity? And is Gillespie the guy who told Rove and Gonzales to leave?â€
Interesting speculation. I never thought Gillespie was that powerful — that he was more of a B level player, though a high B, or maybe a low-level A player. Consequently, I was kind of surprised when he got Karl’s job, but then sort of dismissed it as being typical of late-term employments, and a byproduct of Bush’s decreasing popularity.
So I don’t know that much about him. There’s a sort of subconsious cognitive association of his name with various minor Republican scandals, like the New Hampshire phone bank jamming, but other than that I’m hard pressed to recall much about him.
Maybe a rundown or precis of Gillespie’s activities over the years would make an interesting post, Marcy? Especially, if there are others like me, who vaguely associate his name with Republican corruption but don’t remember the details?
A sort of ’Ed Gillespie’s Greatest Hits’. Hmm, it’s remarkable how that word, ’Hits’, always seems to take on a Soprano-esque connotation when it’s used in conjunction with Republican operatives.
on 2004 [re]election night i saw a network interview with ed gillespie. can’t remember who the reporter was but they got him just after bush was declared the winner.
i don’t remember a thing he said. in fact, i’m not sure he said much. but why i remember it was because he had the oddest look on his face. so odd it broke through the sick feeling of realizing we were stuck with bush for four more years. i have never forgotten that creepy look. whenever his name comes up, i remember it.
at first i thought the look was relief. after all, in the afternoon hours it looked like kerry was going to win. but it wasn’t relief really. i can only describe it as ’afterglow.’ it was that creepily sexual. and even repellant, it was the look of a man who had just scammed someone into giving him the best blow job of his life and suddenly realizing he was going to be able to keep ’em coming. ick. still makes me shudder. my apologies for any unwanted images i may be creating here.
now it looks like he was clairvoyant.
Rayne – I agree that Billy Martin and Stan Brand is a bit of overkill for a freaking city court plea (that, I hate to admit, has some defects that are at least cognizable for setting it aside); but do you really think that is what Craig is up to? Would be fine eith me; but I dunno….
Why don’t we all post in bold until Jodi learns to use the tag more discriminately?
That way, Jodi’s posts will look just like everyone else’s, until he/she learns to calm down.
By ’calm down’, I of course mean for Jode to stop doing the textual equivalent of: SCREAMING.
Marcy:
Have you read Robert Parry’s 8/17/07 article on consortiumnews.com about Rumsfield’s resignation being 11/6 – the day before the election, not the day after as previously thought?
The last paragraph of the article – if true – why hasn’t it been picked up by the media?
Rayne and Bmaz – Whatever the legal strategy Craig is employing here, I don’t doubt for a minute that there was extreme pressure exerted upon him, his family members, or some other weak spot by the Rethugs to force him to â€express his intention to resignâ€. Perhaps he’s trying to improve whatever â€severance package†he got for setting a resignation date. I seem to recall that Bob Packwood was expelled from the Senate for sexual harassment, but it would not be easy to get a sitting Senator to leave before an election if he was determined to stand his ground. And at the end of the day, while the background facts are known to everyone, all he pleaded guilty to was â€disorderly conductâ€, although no-one believes that he was just throwing paper towels around in the men’s room. Senators with greater transgressions have been permitted to stay. Clearly this could end up being a nightmare for the Republicans, as no one knows where this could end – Lindsey Graham? McConnell?
Ishmael – Well those would seem to be the names in play at least on the Senate homo-hypocrisy front. I am sure there is a lot of other dirt he might be able to cast about though as he was formerly in leadership. I find it hard to believe that it is really in his interest o open this mess back up in Minneapolis; although, as I stated above there are apparent procedural defects in the plea that would give him at least a decent chance of having it set aside. That is an awful lot of high priced out of town talent just for a city court chump change matter.
Bmaz – agreed, I don’t think he has any intention of really contesting the airport conviction – he’s lawyered up to play hardball with the Republican leadership, not the Minneapolis DA.
And is Gillespie the guy who told Rove and Gonzales to leave? – EW
Wow wow wee wah. I am impressed. Even if you are not right on the money, you are completely engaged in deducing the machinations of our secret government. For that, I thank you.
I wonder what jodi’s father and brother think about this.
JGabriel
Yup, thinking of it. Like you–particularly after Gillespie didn’t exactly salvage the VA GOP–I’ve considered him a B player. But he’s increasingly got the power of an A player.
But isn’t that the Bush MO? Place â€C†talent on the â€A†team? Including at the top….
EW: â€Yup, thinking of it [Gillespie overview].â€
Cool, thanks. I look forward to reading it if you decide to go ahead with the idea.
bmaz: â€But isn’t that the Bush MO? Place â€C†talent on the â€A†team? Including at the top….â€
That’s a slightly different distinction. For example, Gonzalez was, and Rice is, clearly on the A-Level in terms of power and access, even though they are just as clearly D and B level talents, respectively.
so can anyone the president deems â€fit†to give their take on hiring and firing? Seems like that would violate some sort of law governing privacy of an â€Employeeâ€.
That aside,off topic anyone know where I can find the treatise by Kris and wilson. where i found it, kind of steep $150.00 not being a lawyer but loving law its a lot to pay for reading material.
so can anyone the president deems â€fit†to give their take on hiring and firing? Seems like that would violate some sort of law governing privacy of an â€Employeeâ€.
That aside,off topic anyone know where I can find the treatise by Kris and wilson. where i found it, kind of steep $150.00 not being a lawyer but loving law its a lot to pay for reading material.
Darclay – Nope. Thats the price. This is in the form of a legal reference book; unlikely to be on sale at Barnes & Noble.
well I guess thats the price I’ll have to pay. Thanks! allways enjoy the comments here. I learn a lot reading all your posts!
â€Clearly this could end up being a nightmare for the Republicans, as no one knows where this could end – Lindsey Graham? McConnell?â€
Posted by: Ishmael | September 04, 2007
Isn’t it wonderful?
Your CD is stuck on one spot, Neil.
Clean it up with a soft cloth.
EW – I think you are right – Gillespie had no problem seeing that another GOP sex scandal next summer would be The End of the Republican Party. The Fundies would fall out of the Red Boat, stay at home and not vote.
So, he’s announcing the burn notice now – not taking a moral stand of any kind, just saying â€don’t get caught†– telling any and all Goopers that there will be no passes issued – nobody getting saved like Hastert, Heather Wilson, Reynolds and nearly 60 other Gooper Congressional Hypocrits in the Foley Scandal last year.
Of course, he can say what he wants, but it seems pretty clear that some of these folks, like Larry Craig and Mark Foley and who knows how many others, have appetites they can’t control.
The space around Bush is starting to look like the royal court in The Tudors. Now if Woolsey would just fall on his sword we’d be getting somewhere.
Oh, Neil, I am soooo jealous. You merited BOLDING. Rayne’ll probably be bolded next. Some day, if I’m either really snotty or partly clever, I will merit italics That’s not as great a compliment as being bolded, but any caroted compliment would flatter my vanity…
I really must put in a good word for Sen. Craig; last week, all I had to do when phoning Idaho was say, ’Hey, what’s up with that Larry Craig situation…?’ and I either got snarly growls, or else hoots of raucus laughter. Good thing football season is coming up; I think some might like to change the topic
Nevertheless, the fashion in which the GOP tossed Craig overboard was appalling. ’Gayness’ is not a contagion, yet the way the GOP handled the situation was like dumping dirt on a festering wound — abandon! Flee! Deny!! It tells Kenneth Melman, Jimmy Jeff GuckertGannon, and all the other Closeted Gays that they’d damn well better stay locked in the closet and STFU. Good to know we can count on the GOP for continued social toxicity when it comes to discussing our fellow Americans. Sigh….
My hunch: Gillespie’s probably C Team; they’re scraping near the bottom of the barrel.
Neil, I bow to your greatness. You got bolded, you fink
Log Cabin Republicans where art thou now? Hmm in the kingdom of denial ashamed of your preference living a lie!
readerOfTeaLeaves,
as usual (except for safeguarding our restrooms and children against perverts) you are off base and off track. I try always to bold people’s names and other important things.
If I did happen to not bold your name once, then I sincerely apologize. I meant no affront.
Here I will bold it once again to make up for any slack or indadvertent non-bolding.
readerOfTeaLeaves,
Gillespie was also involved in the Florida recount in 2000. It’s amazing how many Bush Administration officials, past and present, have that characteristic in common.