Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Tale Of Michelle And The Cookie Jar

First Lady Michelle Obama has become the co-president to her husband that Hillary Clinton only dreamed of being. She is with him everywhere, making speeches, giving orders, running up the public debt. And if the early reports are substantiated, she's right there with him practicing crooked Chicago politics and extending them to the federal level.

The "cookie jar" that Michelle may have had her hand in is the mini-scandal that could conceivably be the Obama Watergate. Remember the dust-up awhile back about the Inspector General who was removed from office without so much as a "thank you for your loyal service?" IG Gerald Walpin was removed from his office (literally) for getting too close to proving a nefarious connection between the Obamas, a crooked California mayor, and a couple of questionable community organizations. Walpin filed suit to regain his job as watchdog over the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), at least until the normal expiration of his term of office.

Walpin was investigating CNCS, its chairman, Alan D. Solomont, and most particularly former NBA star Kevin Johnson, who is now the mayor of Sacramento, California. Johnson, a personal friend and enthusiastic supporter of the Obamas, was also a director of AmeriCorps (soon to be re-named The Obama Youth Corps) which is a creature of CNCS. Even before the Obamas came into office, there was an investigation into serious allegations of misuse of AmeriCorps funds by Johnson. The Obamas, Chairman Solomont, and the new acting U.S. Attorney in Sacramento were greatly displeased by the investigation, and have since done everything possible to keep Walpin out of office and the investigation gone like the New Black Panther cases in Philadelphia.

House Member Darryl Issa (R-California) and Sen. Charles Grassle (R-Iowa) have been following the investigation and the attempt to suppress it, and are now actively informing their constituents about the latest developments. Walpin had been warned to back off the investigation by Obama administration officials, but refused. The Inspector General statute requires that any IG whose services are going to be terminated ("removed from office") must receive thirty days notice of such intention to terminate. Walpin was apparently getting too close to wait for that thirty days to pass, so instead of terminating him, they suspended him "effective immediately" (he was placed on paid administrative leave, thus avoiding the termination appellation). That, as a practical matter, stopped the investigation without the legal niceties of giving Walpin notice and opportunity to defend himself or to complete his investigation. The entire purpose of the thirty day requirement is fend off political interference with an ongoing investigation.

Among the ginned-up charges against Walpin were allegations that he had gone senile overnight and didn't express himself in a proper logical manner at a couple of meetings with the Obama nay-sayers. Walpin, on the other hand, was not so senile as to forget to demand his rights. And in doing so, he hired some attorneys to file suit to gain his position back. His legal charge against the administration is that the "suspension" was in fact a "termination" in all but name. On December 7, Obama administration lawyers filed briefs in federal court claiming that Walpin's charges were completely without merit, and should be dismissed without a hearing. It is not a big stretch to believe that the motion is an indication of how fearful the administration is that any of this dictatorial activity will be documented in court records.

So where does the unelected and unofficial co-president fit into this scenario? Michelle Obama, without being vetted by the Senate or receiving any official sanction for her position, was given "a central role in the national service agenda." That would, and does, include AmeriCorps. Walpin was removed just as the investigation was showing a close working relationship between Chairman Solomont and the First Lady. Rep Issa reacted angrily to the latest court action by the administration. On December 11, he wrote a pointed and damning official letter to Chairman Solomont, specifically accusing Solomont of making false statements about his relationships.

"After Mr. Walpin's removal, there was speculation in the press that former Chief of Staff to the First Lady Jackie Norris may have influenced the President's action because she left the White House to become a senior advisor at CNCS around the time of Mr. Walpin's removal. Accordingly, Committee investigators specifically asked if you discussed any Corporation business, including the issues relating to the Corporation's Office of Inspector General, with Ms. Norris. You indicated that you did not. The White House announced on June 4, 2009, that Ms. Norris had been appointed Senior Advisor to the Corporation. In light of all this, it seems highly implausible that you would meet with Ms. Norris on June 9, 2009 and not discuss the Inspector General who was fired the very next day."

And the plot thickens. When Congressional investigators questioned White House aides about the obvious connections, the aides terminated the sessions as soon as the questions became pointed about Michelle Obama, Solomont and Norris. Chicago-style politics have now reached the highest levels of the executive branch of the federal government.

For those of you who have searched the mainstream media for all of these developments and found little or nothing, you might be wondering why I might use the expression "Obama Watergate," I remind you that the original Watergate started out as the investigation of a common burglary, and ended up making its way all the way to the White House, resulting in the resignation of a president. With the current makeup of the Congress, there's no chance of impeachment to spur the president into resignation if this story has legs. And if the Obamas are as good at suppressing scandal as the Clintons, this one could fade as fast as Whitewater (with a few sacrificial lambs being sent to the slaughter). But the 2010 elections are less than a year away, and the situation on the ground could change radically.

17 comments:

AndrewPrice said...

I'd only heard about this tangentially. In terms of her as a First Lady though, I see her as one of the laziest we've ever had. The woman seems to do nothing except spend nights in expensive hotels and go on junkets to luxury locations.

Unknown said...

Andrew: Her spendthrift ways have been making their way around the internet and the non-MSM for awhile. Direct involvement in political activity is only now coming to light, and we heard about it early here simply because of the connection to the mayor of California's capital city. I suspect there's a fire under all that smoke.

Writer X said...

I've barely heard of this at all. Good for Walpin. I'm glad he's not letting this go. CNCS sounds like another ACORN.

Unknown said...

WriterX: I doubt that his issue is going to go away anytime soon. It's been largely a California thing, but then Watergate was originally just a D.C. apartment/office thing. Walpin's a tough old buzzard, and he has made it clear that his honor is at stake which means an all-out, ongoing battle. "Honor" being an unknown word among Obamists, I sure they were surprised by the unwillingness to surrender from a man so close to retirement age anyway. ACORN is one of those "questionable community organizations" to which I referred.

HamiltonsGhost said...

Lawhawk--At least it's sort of nice to know that Michelle is about something other than building up her biceps and wearing clothes designed by couturier Charles of Wal-Mart.

Unknown said...

HamiltonsGhost: That about says it all. If there's a paper trail, they'll know which ones were written by Michelle by their terrible usage of written English and her thanks to all the left wing folks who have advanced her career.

Unknown said...

From Little ACORNs, might scandals grow. Is there some rule that the mayor of the state capital must have the most corrupt government in the state?

Unknown said...

CalFed: Yes, there is such a rule (at least in California). The other rule is that the most left-wing city government must have the most members who are certifiable psychos. Currently Berkeley and San Francisco are battling for the title.

StanH said...

Most tasty Lawhawk! With a small amount of effort by the MSM much of this chicanery would come to light - - our press needs an attitude adjustment as well. 2010 is going to be a wild, and important year for our Republic. Great article Lawhawk.

Skinners 2 Cents said...

Chicago style politics is indeed a team sport.

Unknown said...

StanH: The only thing good I can say about the dishonesty and crooked dealing in the Obama administration is that they've done so much of it that it can't all be hidden. And it is amazing that one brave man can force an entire department of the national government into full defensive posture.

Unknown said...

Skinners2Cents: The Obama administration is like a football team that fields fourteen men, and the MSM are like a blind referee that refuses to notice the cheating. Chicago just happens to have the all-time Super Bowl Champions of cheating.

Individualist said...

Lawhawk

This mess sounds bad but it makes me think along another avenue. All this subterfuge about who said what at a meeting has been going on for a long time in Washington.

What do think (given an exception for military and national security matters of course) about a Sunshine Law for the Federal Government.

Florida has a Sunshine law which states that all communications and meetings with government officials must be made public.

Unknown said...

Individualist: California has a sunshine law, and was one of the first. It goes back to the first Jerry Brown administration in the late 70s. The law restrains the law-abiding. It means nothing to the Obama administration or the mayor of Sacramento.

Consider the Holder/Obama refusal to turn subpoenaed documents over to the Civil Rights Commission regarding the dismissal of cases against The New Black Panthers in Philadelphia, citing executive privilege. Sunshine laws are great, as long as the politicians are honest.

The only real remedy for political lawlessness is a free and brave press willing to expose the chicanery, and a public ready, willing and able to throw the thieves out on their behinds.

Individualist said...

Well the Laws can be useful to the law abiding... This is a war story told for speculative purposes only as an example...

Suppose we have an executive of a governmental agency who is subject to the Sunshine law as a government employee. He gets a friendly call from an elected member of the state legislature regarding a favor for a relative. The state legislature individual explains his involvement in funding for that area. The executive not wanting to do the favor and not wanting to make an enemy says "Okay, send me an email and I'll consider it". The Legislature person then states "Nevermind it is not that important". Why, becasue he knows that this executive's email is read by the local newspaper since by law it must be available. The Executive knew the Legislature guy new this and would not dare send the email for fear of being exposed in the press.

At least in this way it would be more difficult to do these things in secret. Holder would have more of a problem with this I think if all his email were being downloaded by the papers daily. Even if he colluded to hide it some documents may have gotten missed. The job the NY Times refuses to do I am sure that Andrew Brietbart would be more than willing to handle.

I think it couldn't hurt.

Unknown said...

Individualist: Well, considering their love of "transparency," I suppose a sunshine law could be passed, even under the Democrats. I just don't think it will do much good, and what you described sounds like the process that a good investigative reporter would follow. But I guess it couldn't hurt. Someone might accidentally follow the law.

Unknown said...

And now, from the L.A. Times: Michelle Slides Downward in the Polls.

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