A word of caution: while it’s a separate issue from whether the feds engaged in overkill, Feiger certainly is an obvious target. Remember, the federal indictment didn’t come down until a few months ago, but he’s been fighting charges of violating Michigan campaign finance laws since 2005, and he was accused by the Michigan AG of trying to extort an end to the state investigation in exchange for not going public about the AG’s extramarital affair.

I think Fieger may be one of those rare cases where there was a good reason to investigate him for campaign finance violations.

Neil – Don’t sell Oklahoma short; there are an awful lot of Imhofes there. There is a very sizable portion of the population that IS getting representation through Imhofe. Scary.

DHinMI – You folks up there sure have a lot more exposure and better long term and big picture read on Fieger than some cluck out here in the desert, but he has his appealing qualities. I was around him a bit at a big national trial lawyers conference for a couple of days and, although a bit full of himself (a characteristic of everybody there, including me, I might add), he really was a pretty bright, funny and engaging guy. Of course, that really has no bearing on campaign finance issues…..

There was large article in my local Raleigh News & Observer today on the charges against the law firm of Milberg Weiss which has locations in NY and CA. This article was from NYT’s. In this article they also reference connections in this case to John Edwards. Based upon my review, it appears that much of these charges were started in 2003 and early 2004. Remember at this time, the President was madly pulling his hair out over increased costs to all American services caused by trial lawyers and frivolous lawsuits. Also remember that Edwards was one of the presidential candidates that the Bush administration feared in the 2004 campaign. I think these type cases are an extension of political efforts by Rove to intimidate Democrats.

On the trial lawyer policy of the administration, there were partisan fundraising concerns explicit during the Bush2000 campaign, parallel to what the administration has tried to accomplish both nationally and thru various states’ local regulatory processes, to lessen the opposing party’s conduits of campaign cash thru ploys such as tightening 527 contribution regs, or in one state of which I know, by launching an ’initiative’ to ban public service employee payroll lineitem deduction contributions directly to pacs and the like, a measure which originated at RNC cookiecutter style and which was exposed as more nationwide interference with local constitutional law and got defeated soundly at the polls. There is a complementary facet to the antitriallawyer gambit, which is the Republican corollary of business friendliness, by easing the total amount of anticipated punitive damages in torts, a measure passed although somewhat ameliorated in congress. But that is only as newsworthy as the similar techniques which have been hallmark policies of this administration, as in the argument at Scotus over MA v EPA, wherein the associate justices had to scold the EPA administrator who said he refused to make the assessment of whether that watchdog agency would try to curtail polluting gases emanating from US sources that melt icecaps; and if forced to evaluate, would refuse to implement any regs which would add to commerce costs of doing business.

Thats because KKKarl IS behind the biggest Bush; nitwit.

By the way Jodidiot, bin Laden would be on the good side of Rove’s creepy little family. Why don’t you read about his father? Perhaps those hands holding â€Dick Cheney’s shiny stainless steel balls†also contain his father’s solid gold cock ring……

bmaz–Fieger’s all those things and more, including a true believer in using the judicial system to also be a system of justice, a believer in helping the little guy, and someone whose self-absorption would make Narcissus blush. The problem is that he’s quite reckless. It’s not that he makes a big deal about his wins and does and says outrageous things–one of the best was when he referred to the infant triplets of corpulent Republican and then-governor John Engler as â€the pigletsâ€â€“as much as that he seems to pursue his version of justice with lax regard for the law. There have been charges of venue shopping, which I know lots of attorneys do, but seldom as transparently as Fieger. iirc, at one point he voted from two different addresses in the same election, or maybe it was that he filed to run for office in one place while registered somewhere else; it was something like that. Collectively, these things haven’t been that big. But there’s a pattern of recklessness and of inviting and practically daring people to take him on, and then making it ridiculously easy to screw him. The state finance charges stemmed from him running an independent expenditure campaign against a MI Supreme Court justice–they’re elected in Michigan–but not filing the paperwork for months and months after he did it, and sortakinda looking like he had tried to slip through without getting caught. Then he and one of his associates allegedly tried to extort the MI AG to not pursue the case and Feiger wouldn’t release the evidence he had of the AG’s extra-marital affair.

So, I know Marcy probably disagrees with me, and like I said, the conduct of the prosecution is a separate matter, but targeting Feiger for campaign finance violations when he had already had a very public run-in on state campaign finance violations that are similar in nature to the federal charges seems to me to be just as or even more likely to have been a case of normal prosecutorial targeting.

I am more than willing, however, to admit that I could be wrong on this. The issue is whether Fieger fits in with the pattern of the rest, not whether there’s a pattern.

yo PJ Evans

I never knew those last two choices were mutually exclusive

some of these guys never had a prime

freepatriot

I have to admit that Jodi-the-troll doesn’t seem to have had a prime any time that it’s been here. Possibly as a child ….

Is Jodi-the-troll a wannabe comedy writer, or just another has-been?
Posted by: P J Evans | October 18, 2007 at 14:59

Jodi is a shit stain comedy writer has-been, who gas no use for the facts nor giving her posts any forethought.

Jane’s site seems to be down.

The FISA bill doesn’t matter. Its a Constitutional issue. And then we will impeach the judges ass.

jodi, silly, don’t you know how to read?

I’ve never said Rove caused the outing of Plame. Because he didn’t cause it–Dick Cheney did.

EW,
I know my post was off topic, but I was wondering why the post was removed? I do not think I said anything offensive, and noticed that others have been off topic and not removed.
My comment was asking you to give your take on Dodds hold on the FISA Bill and why the blackout by MSM. I just found it curious and stated that maybe the other canidates might be shills.

A couple of light years ago, a friend of mine in Madison, Wisconsin was prosecuted for refusing to register for the draft. He had a liberal trial-level judge. My friend made the argument that the Reagan Administration had selectively prosecuted only vocal opponents of the draft and the trial judge agreed that this was a relevant issue. The trial judge granted my friend’s request to subpoena then Attorney General Ed Meese to make Meese testify about the selectivity of the prosecution. When the government refused to produce Meese, the judge dismissed the case. The government appealed

On appeal before the 7th Circuit, the trial judge was reversed. The opinion, written by Judge Posner, found that Meese should never have been subpoenaed because the issue of selectivity of prosecution was irrelevant. Posner held that the government had great prosecutorial discretion which allowed it to prosecute only those who vocally opposed it.

This case is still good law.

you are getting paranoid which is one of the first signs of the progressive disease.
Posted by: Jodi | October 19, 2007 at 10:14

Shit Stain.

Alchoholism is a progressive disease. Artherosclorosis also known as stiff arteries is a progressive disease. But paranoia is not always progressive.

Paranoia is often associated with psychotic illnesses, particularly schizophrenia, although attenuated features may be present in other primarily non-psychotic diagnoses, such as paranoid personality disorder. Paranoia can also be a side effect of medication or recreational drugs, particularly marijuana and stimulants such as methamphetamine.

In the unrestricted use of the term, common paranoid delusions can include the belief that the person is being followed, poisoned or loved at a distance (often by a media figure or important person, a delusion known as erotomania or de Clerambault syndrome).

Other common paranoid delusions include the belief that the person has an imaginary disease or parasitic infection (delusional parasitosis); that the person is on a special quest or has been chosen by God; that the person has had thoughts inserted or removed from conscious thought; or that the person’s actions are being controlled by an external force.

If as Bush claims, he believes God told him to invade Iraq, we’ve got a paranoid delusional in the Oval Office and a war mongering VP in the anti-room.

tryggth, you amplify my points and state it about as clearly as anyone could. Well done.

darclay

I read this quote by you at Oct 19, 8:10
â€EW,
I know my post was off topic, but I was wondering why the post was removed? I do not think I said anything offensive, and noticed that others have been off topic and not removed.â€

My guess is you failed to press the right key is why it isn’t there.