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.
The New American Address
If my math is correct, our election day was 40 weeks ago today (Nov 4, 2008). I was just listening to some music played by the sub on the Mark Levin show, and I began to recite the Gettysburg Address in my head. (I went to school back in the day when they made us memorize stuff.) This prompted me to start looking at the calendar, counting the miserable weeks that we have had to stand by and watch our Constitution be dismantled, and I decided to update Lincoln’s precious words to apply to what is happening in our country today. I hope he would not mind; he is a tremendous inspiration to me, and we might reflect on the perils in the country he had to deal with in his day, and take heart. He brought our country through a terrible time of history. They just do not make many statesmen like him, do they? So many brave Americans before us gave their lives for this country. For them, we must remember, United We Stand.
The American Address, 2009: Two score weeks ago, our uninformed, oblivious countrymen brought forth on this nation an Obama-nation, conceived in Marxism and dedicated to the proposition that all created men are equally controlled by government redistribution of the wealth.
Now we are engaged in a great culture war, testing whether this Obama-nation, or any nation, so ill-conceived and so oppressed, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of town-hall meetings and tea parties to fight this war. We must come to dedicate a portion of ourselves to this battle, in honor of this resting place of those who preceded us and gave their lives that this previous nation might live. It is altogether imperative and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground, until we remove the obstructions to our Constitution from office. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled before us, have consecrated it far above the power-hungry Congress to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what I say here, but we must never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated and focused to the unfinished and threatened work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-to preserve the Constitution in spite of those who defy the oath they took to uphold it; that from these honored dead we take increased inspiration and devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, UNDER GOD, shall have a new birth of freedom- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
President Clinton to the Rescue!!!
First of all, I am exceedingly grateful for the release of our two American journalists who have been held by the North Korean authorities. There are two very happy Immigrant-American Families today and that is a joy worth celebrating.
But then there’s the politics:
This visit of a former President is a very dangerous display of legitimacy to the North Korean regime. Remember they are in desperate need of fresh propaganda at a time when they are flexing their nuclear muscles.
The timing couldn’t be worse: A few short months after a round of nuclear weapons tests by the North Koreans, America responds by apologizing (seems to be a trend) and begging for the release of prisoners. When did we become such pansies? When did we as a country decide that we owed anyone an apology for being the most generous and wealth-producing country the world has ever known? Now release those prisoners!!!
But all that is really of little consequence. North Korea has been playing these games for decades. They have their ups and downs, flex their muscles and get some desperately needed economic aid from a former President (remember Carter) who agrees to some shit we will never know about but which our children are on-the-hook for. The economic stimulus will shut them up temporarily while they plan their next big power play.
No, what bothers me the most is the double speak we get from the White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs. The efforts to downplay the significance of this event are astounding. Obama can’t afford to be seen as weak on foreign policy therefore he has avoided this issue for months. Biden is now no where to be seen or heard of except for the occasional gaff-truth. But alas, Obama has the political cover to deal with the situation without being personally involved. Mr. President you have received a gift, and it’s not even your Birthday!
Did he approve this trip and the preceding negotiations? I think so, and here is way. Obama can’t have direct talks with N. Korea for foreign policy reasons. Having the Secretary of State’s husband and Ex-President extend-an-olive-branch gives Obama significant political cover. If things get ugly he can always through the Clintons under-the-bus. Something he’s wanted to do since the early days of the campaign.
Ask yourself this, is there anyway that a former President went halfway around the world to meet with the leader of a rogue nation without the knowledge of our security forces? No.
Further, don’t you think the Sitting-President would be made aware of such a trip out of professional courtesy? I’m thinking yes. If not, he should be pissed!!! I would be…
All I Got From the Presidents Prime-Time Press Conference Was a Headache!
One would think with the glorious praising of himself and his administration I shouldn’t be feeling the small pounding of a headache coming on in the logical part of my brain. I’m wondering if he can cure the headache he inflicted with his lofty rhetoric? I doubt it because, as he continued to pound the podium with each ridiculous claim of how great HE is doing, my head pounded harder.
Continuing to listen to his opening statement was enough to further escalate my headache. Is it ever a good idea to come out and immediately blame others or a past administration for the problems created by yourself? Evidently, it is to President Obama because, he did just that last night. He continued to blame everything on the Bush administration and refused to take any responsibility for his part in it. Read more
