Robert Bauer Partner in Perkins-Coie; sound familiar?
Breaking: full details to come on SOCN and Jolly Rogers
As Glenn Beck reported on Fox yesterday Robert F. Bauer, Anita Dunn’s husband, has been offered the position of Chief White House Counsel. What hasn’t been reported is that the firm, of which he is a partner; Perkins-Coie, not only is defending Osama Bin Laden’s driver but is also responsible for the ethics complaints filed against Sarah Palin’s Alaska Defense Fund. Of course, the charges were completely bogus but the firm tried to do as much damage as possible by bringing them.
More details and analysis are forthcoming Jolly Rogers.
UPDATE: Analysis
September 24, 2009
reprinted in part from Jolly Rogers for full article go here
Who is Bauer? In addition to being the alleged source of Obama’s decision to forgo general election spending limits, he was chief counsel to Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. Bauer was also counsel to Bill Bradley’s failed run for the presidency and is the current chairman of the Political Law Group at the Washington Firm of Perkins Coie LLP.
And of course Perkins Coie is known for the pro bono defense of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, aka Saqr al-Jedawi, Osama Bin Laden’s former chauffeur and good buddy of Nasser Al-Bahri who was linked to the bombing of the American Destroyer U.S.S. Cole. The case, which the law group brought to the Supreme Court: Salim Ahmed Hamdan versus Donald H. Rumsfeld, et al. With charges dropped as unconstitutional, Hamdan was held as an enemy combatant and brought up on new charges July 21, 2008. He was sentenced to five and a half years imprisonment, but had already served five. He was cleared of terrorism and conspiracy charges and transferred to Yemen where he was released January 8, 2009.
That isn’t the end of the strange coincidences involving Bauer and Perkins Coie. This law group hasn’t only been involved in backing folks like Hamdan (which set the course for the whole question of Guantanamo Bay detainees, the War on Terror and military commissions versus civil trials, etc.), but they’ve been involved in American politics – deeply.
Perkins Coie is the group responsible for boosting the intensity of one of the most persistent ethics attacks against former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
In an e-mail dated July 14, 2009 Kim Chatman, a blogger in Alaska, filed an ethics complaint against Sarah Palin, making the allegation that the governor established a trust fund for the purpose of soliciting donations from members of the public. The original report on this complaint was published in the Anchorage Daily News. Chatman was a co-plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against Palin and filed a complaint regarding Palin’s use of per-diem monies. In all, Chatman leveled
The Alaska Personnel Board asked Perkins Coie to review the complaint. Their nine- page report to the Alaska Personnel Board found essentially nothing, but combined with the pressure of 17 other complaints against the Governor and former candidate for Vice President, may have contributed to her finally leaving office. This complaint was number 13 in that long list.
Perkins Coie has offices in Anchorage, Beijing, Bellevue, Boise, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Madison, Melo Park, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai and of course, Washington, D.C.
But it’s the firm’s experience that makes it most interesting. Listed on its’ website are the areas which it excels at. These include Industry, clean-tech, communications, e-commerce, electronic financial services, energy, energy commercial transactions and project finance, energy litigation, energy project permitting and development, energy regulations and policy, forest products, franchising and distribution, hotels and leisure, interactive entertainment, life sciences, mining, renewable energy, retail and consumer products, semiconductor, senior housing and winery and vineyard.
So, knowing that, we can understand why there is an office in Anchorage, Alaska, and we could understand in a basic sense why the Personnel Board may have asked that firm to review the complaint and offer their opinion – after all, they have a big office there in Anchorage. But isn’t it strange coincidence that the very firm they ask to offer a review is so deeply involved in alternative energy concerns, and has made such a big mark by going up against Donald Rumsfeld, allowing a scumbag like Hamdan to walk – and in that single stroke, producing the firestorm of legal problems that Guantanamo creates. One might just have to wonder who is benefiting from this? More lawyers? And who benefits from the quick passage of Health Care Reform without addressing tort reform?
More lawyers.
And who benefits from taking Sarah Palin out of the game – people like Bauer and people like Obama – more lawyers. Why Perkins Coie? What do they have to gain? Well, they’re not just lovers of Guantanamo detainees. Perrkins Coie is connected to Boeing, Google, Nintendo, Microsoft, Craigslist, AT&T, Western Urban Water Coalition, Dragonslayers (wildfire mitigators) and something called America Votes.
America Votes claims to be the largest grassroots voter mobilization effort in the country. Its’ website has the following on the home page: “America Votes is the centerpiece of a permanent progressive campaign infrastructure nationally and in the states. America Votes and our coalition partners, coordinate independent electoral activity, share innovative strategies and resources, maximize electoral impact and build lasting capacity.
If you’re unsure what that really means, you can get a better explanation from the column on the right of the page. The organization, which is connected to Perkins Coie, is designed to improve “progressives’ ability to succeed in the long term.” The site explains that this effort “is directly linked to the work we do today to build the infrastructure in the states.”
The question I have is “what is the real infrastructure being built and how much of this really has the specific aims of destroying the country regardless of who gets in the way?” And the more obvious this becomes – the more of this structure is uncovered, the faster everything will change. And it won’t be Obama’s “change.” All that will be finished.
Because I think they counted Sarah Palin out too early. She’ll be coming back swinging along with an enraged public.
Sarah Palin Comes Out Swinging On Cap & Trade
If there is one person who knows energy in this country it is Sarah Palin. She has taken the gloves off and has come out swinging against cap and trade in her latest Op-ed in the Washington Compost. I love her subtle digs at Washington, DC, Obama, and this piece of legislation. She starts out calling it cap and trade but quickly moves into our beloved term; cap and tax.
Let the games begin!
I am deeply concerned about President Obama’s cap-and-trade energy plan, and I believe it is an enormous threat to our economy. It would undermine our recovery over the short term and would inflict permanent damage.
American prosperity has always been driven by the steady supply of abundant, affordable energy. Particularly in Alaska, we understand the inherent link between energy and prosperity, energy and opportunity, and energy and security. Consequently, many of us in this huge, energy-rich state recognize that the president’s cap-and-trade energy tax would adversely affect every aspect of the U.S. economy.
There is no denying that as the world becomes more industrialized, we need to reform our energy policy and become less dependent on foreign energy sources. But the answer doesn’t lie in making energy scarcer and more expensive! Those who understand the issue know we can meet our energy needs and environmental challenges without destroying America’s economy.
Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision accommodating newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs.
In addition to immediately increasing unemployment in the energy sector, even more American jobs will be threatened by the rising cost of doing business under the cap-and-tax plan. For example, the cost of farming will certainly increase, driving down farm incomes while driving up grocery prices. The costs of manufacturing, warehousing and transportation will also increase.
The ironic beauty in this plan? Soon, even the most ardent liberal will understand supply-side economics.
Absolutely BRILLIANT! – read the entire piece here.
Is Sarah Palin Going to Fight For America Even After Her Resignation? You Betcha!
I listened to the press conference, the talking heads, the pundits, the long-time bloggers, and those who think they are in the know. Many just speculated on what her decision meant, and decided to write her off. I feel that writing this woman off is incredibly disingenuous. She is not done by any stretch of the imagination. Call it a hunch, a gut feeling, or consider me speculating now – she will continue to fight for America and will not back down.
I could gather as much through parts of her speech where she says:
If I have learned one thing: LIFE is about choices!
And one chooses how to react to circumstances. You can choose to engage in things that tear down, or build up. I choose to work very hard on a path for fruitfulness and productivity. I choose NOT to tear down and waste precious time; but to build UP this state and our country, and her industrious, generous, patriotic, free people!
Life is too short to compromise time and resources… it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: “Sit down and shut up”, but that’s the worthless, easy path; that’s a quitter’s way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and “go with the flow”.
Nah, only dead fish “go with the flow”.
No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time… to BUILD UP.
And there is such a need to BUILD up and FIGHT for our state and our country. I choose to FIGHT for it! And I’ll work hard for others who still believe in free enterprise and smaller government; strong national security for our country and support for our troops; energy independence; and for those who will protect freedom and equality and LIFE… I’ll work for and campaign for those PROUD to be American, and those who are INSPIRED by our ideals and won’t deride them.
I WILL support others who seek to serve, in or out of office, for the RIGHT reasons, and I don’t care what party they’re in or no party at all. Inside Alaska – or Outside Alaska.But I won’t do it from the Governor’s desk.
She isn’t going anywhere and it’s silly for anyone to think otherwise. The speculators want more people to tune in, so they will create as much drama as possible. There are individuals on both sides of the aisle who will call her a quitter for walking away from her job. Yet they easily forget that the man in office practically did the same thing, he just never announced it. Spending 143 days in the senate and then campaigning for presidency for the next couple of years is comparable, if not worse. After Barack Obama finishes his first term, she will still have more executive experience than him.
Sarah Palin has never been a conventional candidate and many of us who are her biggest fans would never want her to be. She has always remained true to herself and true to her principles. Those qualities alone, mean more to me personally, than a title, a resume, money, or power. She is a true American patriot and knows there is a grave need for change in America. She used the term common sense, she said it was lacking in our government, she used the term apathy to characterize the environment we find ourselves in. She even mentioned REAL ‘climate change’ to indicate that she knows gloBull warming is just that, BULL.
We will soon find out that this is a woman of character, integrity, principles, morals, and is a leader. We may not know the exact strategy behind this, but I’m sure given the right amount of time, it will be clear to all of us.
Martin Luther King Jr. quit his job as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, because he saw a drastic need for change. Would Gandhi have made as much of an impact if he continued being a lawyer? The truth of the matter is we need a leader, we all have voices and we can all lead, but Sarah Palin is voice I would follow, as would many others. People are always too quick to judge, however, they don’t really know what’s in store for this charismatic federalist, who believes in our country, our children, our futures, and our core principles. She cannot be the leader we need if she is constrained by Alaska politics and their seemingly ridiculous rules.
Moses was set loose on the waters, and found by Pharoah’s daughter. And he lived with them, as one of them, until he could no longer abide the evil that he saw. So he slew the overseer and fled into the desert, building a life for himself and his family until it was necessary for him to return to free his people.
Take from that what you will. Castigate me as some kind of holy roller, but I stand by what I say unashamed.
In any case, Palin has crossed the Rubicon and made her stand clear. She gave us a hint before when she said “Politically, if I die, I die.” I think this was her equivalent of alea iacta est. She will now be the anti-Obama, standing up for her personal beliefs, free of the constraints the Alaskan people have placed on her. She is now free of them, and they of her – though I think they will be the ones to regret it first.
Sarah Palin has come too far and has made a vast difference for average people who were never involved before, to quit now.
Sarah spoke about FIGHTING in her speech, fighting is both literal and figurative. She plans to start a movement and there is nobody in the GOP, or elsewhere who is the antithesis of Barack Obama and the progressive movement. She spoke about fighting and contributing to candidates no matter what party they belonged to, as long as she believed in them. If she has quit anything, she has quit the establishment and the political machinery that is both parties.
Her family has racked up $500K worth of debt via frivolous ethics complaints based on a strict ethics law that was put into place for the right reasons but is now being abused. Alaska doesn’t have a loser pays law so they get away with it. These complaints have cost the state over $2M. She knows that these complaints and dirty, underhanded strategies will stop if Lt. Governor Sean Parnell takes her place. Sean Parnell is not a threat to either the Democrat or Republican establishment, therefore Alaska can be more efficient and resolve many of the ongoing issues it faces, by utilizing more of their energy and natural resources.
I have a feeling that we will begin to see more of her in the lower 48 and she will start a grassroots campaign. No other candidate, and I can only speak for myself, has struck a cord in my heart or in my mind. I have always gotten by, by voting for the lesser of two evils – I’m done with that. She has the ability to fight and change minds. She has the ability to draw crowds that outnumber those of Obama, and she is the only person on the scene who has the capability of building a grassroots army of support. I finally got up off the couch this past year because of her. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
If she were to finish her term and attempt to support other candidates while still governor she would rack up more ethics complaints. This would cost the state and her family more money, not mention one of these complaints could actually stick if she conducts politics outside of the state to promote a political cause. There would be no way for her to build a network of politicians and supporters to back her if she made a run for President or the Senate. She will also use this time to write a book, study policy, and brush up on national issues.
I hope and believe we will also see her attend tea parties. Who knows!? she may even make an appearance at the 9/12 march on DC. I think she will actively get involved and she will do it not as a politician, but as one of us. Sarah Palin has always been that way and that’s what I love about her as do many other conservatives. She is the epitome of what is missing in DC. The more people see what the government is doing, and the more they become disenfranchised with both parties, the better her chances.
As one person mentioned on the news yesterday, “She may be crazy like a fox.” That was the understatement of the year. I think we may be witnessing the founding MOTHER taking back America.
The Palin Effect Hits New York?
Sarah Palin is unlike any politician we have seen for a very long time, if ever. She is a people’s politician and believes in middle America, more than the powers that be. She is a self-made woman who owes nobody, except God and family, for where she is today. So many Americans are drawn to her solely due to her genuineness and her bond with working Americans. She doesn’t speak using erudite and urbane words, fancy rhetoric that contains no substance – no, she just speaks in a simple fashion, right to the heart of America.
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette writes:
President Barack Obama is, by far, the most popular politician in America. And there is little doubt who is No. 2.
[...]
That many liberals found Mr. Letterman’s remarks humorous speaks not only to their depravity, but to their fear. The 20,000 who turned out to see Ms. Palin in Auburn testify to the fact that she strikes a responsive chord with ordinary people no other Republican does.
Liberals and some Beltway conservatives assert Ms. Palin is stupid. She frequently is misquoted — most recently by Dan Balz in The Washington Post Wednesday — to make her appear so.
But I’d say she got the better of it in her exchange with David Letterman. And her brief walk across the stage at the GOP dinner Monday drew more attention than Mr. Gingrich’s stem-winding speech. For someone who, according to the Washington cognoscenti, doesn’t know what she’s doing, she’s doing pretty well.
I don’t think Sarah Palin has decided whether she’d like to live in the White House. But if she does, ignoring the conventional wisdom in Washington may be the best way to get there.
Palin drew a crowd of over 20,000 people in Auburn, a small democratic town, in New York. I do not recall any other “failed” vice presidential candidate still receiving this much attention and still shown this much support from regular folks.
Upon her departure to Washington, D.C., Monday, two New York senate Democrats filibustered with the Republicans, and switched sides. Of course you cannot tie the event directly to Sarah Palin, but the move after her visit, is definitely considerable. She was also ridiculed by David Letterman for her visit to New York, which even included a fund-raising event for an Autism Walk. Liberals seem to do all that they can to destroy this woman and use the most vile, despicable, and non-substantive attacks against her.
Letterman’s sexist, misogynistic remarks against Governor Palin and her daughter(s) were heard around the world. A New York lawmaker has called on Letterman to step down. It’s incredible, that of all places, New York is standing up for the Governor.
She has set off a loyal army of support around the nation and a petition has been created to fire David Letterman, as well as a campaign to write to the CBS/David Letterman sponsors to cease their sponsorship or be boycotted by former consumers. It will be interesting how this all breaks down.
And on a final note, Sarah Palin must be doing something right, hell even froze over, NOW, the National Organization for Women (or as I like to refer to them as, the Nauseating Obama Women), who have never so much as batted an eye when sexist remarks or unfounded attacks have been made against conservative women, have officially come out in support of Palin and have put Letterman into their Hall of Shame. I’m flabbergasted!
Flip-Flopper In Chief Now Agrees to Reading Detainees in Afghanistan Miranda Rights
I personally want to stop writing and crawl back into the hole I found myself in over a year ago before becoming politically involved. This just keeps getting worse by the minute. Everyday there is something new occurring and some story being reported that seems worse than the last…
The Obama administration is granting Miranda rights to detainees in Afghanistan. This is simply ludicrous! Obama wants to allow FOREIGN terrorists US constitutional rights!? These same terrorists who want to destroy our military, the West and Israel!? My brain is hemorrhaging trying to comprehend this idiocy.
When 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was captured on March 1, 2003, he was not cooperative. “I’ll talk to you guys after I get to New York and see my lawyer,” he said, according to former CIA Director George Tenet.
Of course, KSM did not get a lawyer until months later, after his interrogation was completed, and Tenet says that the information the CIA obtained from him disrupted plots and saved lives. “I believe none of these successes would have happened if we had had to treat KSM like a white-collar criminal — read him his Miranda rights and get him a lawyer who surely would have insisted that his client simply shut up,” Tenet wrote in his memoirs.
If Tenet is right, it’s a good thing KSM was captured before Barack Obama became president. For, the Obama Justice Department has quietly ordered FBI agents to read Miranda rights to high value detainees captured and held at U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan, according a senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. “The administration has decided to change the focus to law enforcement. Here’s the problem. You have foreign fighters who are targeting US troops today — foreign fighters who go to another country to kill Americans. We capture them and they’re reading them their rights — Mirandizing these foreign fighters,” says Representative Mike Rogers, who recently met with military, intelligence and law enforcement officials on a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan.
Rogers, a former FBI specialagent and U.S. Army officer, says the Obama administration has not briefed Congress on the new policy. “I was a little surprised to find it taking place when I showed up because we hadn’t been briefed on it, I didn’t know about it. We’re still trying to get to the bottom of it, but it is clearly a part of this new global justice initiative.”
Global justice? Global justice? The law of the land, the constitution, is no longer valid for liberals. The document that has given us the greatest country on Earth is apparently obsolete. Quite frankly, if liberals and anyone else for that matter, do not like America, then by all means, please move elsewhere and quit whining! I’ve lived abroad, and if anything, it makes one appreciate America even more…
This is a clear message to the troops – don’t defend America and if you do happen to defend Her, don’t take any prisoners just kill them all on the spot do what the islamo-fascists do and video tape a beheading. (I’m sure that will really improve our image abroad and help the problem in the Middle East). The liberals with the body count signs in their front yards from Iraq and Afghanistan will have to update regularly, since these actions are bound to cost more lives.
Does this also mean that any Gitmo detainees who are tried in court and were not read Miranda rights (which none of them were) would be released into the US immediately? Would there be a statute of limitations that would stipulate no detainees arrested prior to this new policy will qualify? If the former occurs then the body counting liberals should also create a sign for unarmed, innocent, American citizens who were killed by Obama’s naivete.
What is even more interesting is the fact that Obama completely flip flopped on this issue, when back in 2003 he opposed giving Miranda rights to foreign terrorists. It’s interesting to see those who can sell out their principles for political expedience. It’s the real ideologues who don’t have an issue with checking their values at the door if it will win them votes.
Juxtapose that with Governor Palin’s remarks at the RNC convention last year (as C4P has reported, it was another “I told ya so moment”)… I’m so glad we dodged the bullet on Palin last election/sarc!
Thank God for JaNo’s Overseas Contingency Operation… LOL!
