Obviously, the real issue is the distortion of the political process by corporations and wealthy donors. Robust campaign finance reform is the singe most important change we can make to the system. Just imagine for a second, the country we would be living in if politicians routinely made policy based on the merits of the issues and the best interests of the people. And of course John Kerry is being hypocritical when he criticizes others for being beholden to special interests. That being said, Bush has made it real easy for me to vote for Kerry, or any other Democratic nominee, without any qualms. His administration has been an unmitigated disaster for this country.
It's funny how this man can stump against Enron, blame it on Bush, yet he can take money from Mr. Foreign Interests Cutout, Johnny Chung himself. Kerry is no more an "outsider" in Washington than a Ford is a Chevy. He's a hypocrite and a liar and if the American people are dumb enough to elect his sorry ass, they get what they deserve what they get.
Yeah, the Republicans don't have any Chinese connections. Real-Life 'Spy Who Loved Me' Scandal WASHINGTON, April 10, 2003 Katrina Leung working for the Chinese Consulate in March 1997 (Photo: AP) The FBI is going to have to explain what precisely was going on in the Chinese espionage division in Los Angeles...how such a relationship could go undetected for 20 years, and how agents were allowed to get so cozy with their sources. (CBS) The FBI has been hit with another scandal, this one involving sex, money and a double agent for the Chinese whose code name was "Parlor Maid." Federal prosecutors said a former agent responsible for tracking down Chinese spies had an affair with an alleged Chinese double agent and allowed her access to classified documents. FBI Director Robert Mueller calls it "a sad day" for the bureau. Former agent, James J. Smith, 59, recruited Republican political activist Katrina Leung in the early 1980s to become an FBI "asset" and became her "handler," seeking information about the People's Republic of China, according to an FBI affidavit. The married FBI man and Leung, from California, had a sexual relationship from that time until Smith's retirement in 2000, federal prosecutors alleged, saying the FBI paid her more than $1.7 million for services and expenses. In documents unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Smith was charged with "gross negligence in handling documents related to the national defense." Smith appeared in handcuffs before a federal magistrate who set bail at $250,000 and scheduled an initial hearing for April 29. Leung, who worked covertly for the Chinese government, is charged with unauthorized copying of U.S. secrets with intent of providing them to Chinese intelligence services. Leung, 49, was arrested Wednesday and was ordered held without bond in Los Angeles until a Friday hearing out of concern she might flee the country. The charges against Smith and Leung carry maximum sentences of 10 years in prison. Code-named "Parlor Maid" by the FBI, Leung used her relationship with Smith to gain access to classified documents, frequently copying them and providing details to Chinese officials, according to the affidavit. Examples include files regarding Chinese fugitives, a telephone list from an espionage probe, lists of FBI agents and names of agents serving at overseas posts. She had a contact code-named "Mao" at China's Ministry of State Security intelligence service, the affidavit said. Leung, in turn, was known to the Chinese by her alias, "Luo." Even with the criminal charges in this case, the FBI is still going to have to explain what precisely was going on in the Chinese espionage division in Los Angeles, which is a very prominent office, says CBS News Correspondent Stephanie Lambidakis. Among the other questions is how such a relationship could go undetected for 20 years, and how agents were allowed to get so cozy with their sources. A statement issued by Leung's two attorneys said that she is "a loyal American citizen" who repeatedly put herself in danger to help the FBI and who would be vindicated. Smith's attorney, Brian Sun, said after the hearing that the affidavit "states that she basically stole stuff from him." However, the affidavit contends Smith learned that Leung was providing information to the Chinese government in 1991 but "continued to allow Leung access to classified information" for about nine more years. When another FBI agent approached Smith about Leung's alleged duplicity, the affidavit said Smith claimed the problem was under control. Mueller said he has requested internal and Justice Department inspector general reviews "to determine what went wrong, why our safeguards failed to detect this misconduct sooner and where accountability lies." Officials said Mueller was not initially told about the case when he became FBI director in September 2001. He learned about it later that year and created a task force that investigated for 13 months. Smith, who worked for the FBI for 30 years, was involved in the investigation into whether China tried to funnel money into the 1996 U.S. elections in a bid to gain influence. Smith worked with Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung, who cooperated with the FBI and pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his admission that he received $300,000 from Chinese intelligence officials to influence congressional campaigns. The campaign finance connection was not mentioned in the FBI affidavit unsealed Wednesday. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, R-Fla., and the panel's senior Democrat, Rep. Jane Harman of California, issued a joint statement calling the case "a matter of serious concern" and commending Mueller for the steps taken so far. The case is similar to that of former FBI agent Richard Miller, who served 13 years in prison for passing information to two pro-Soviet Russian immigrants. One of them, Svetlana Ogorodnikov, was described as Miller's lover. Leung is president of a business consulting firm in California and a director of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. It promotes greater understanding of global issues and includes a number of prominent people as directors. Leung helped raise money for former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan in his unsuccessful bid for California governor last year and contributed to several other GOP campaigns, according to Republican officials and campaign records.
If Kerry is the nominee, I'm voting for him to get Bush out of office any monkey is better than that assclown. But it looks like I'd be voting for more 'politics as usual.' Sigh. I mean, at least Dean can back up his statements. Against the war, and he voted against the war. Against government control by special interests, and did a lot of grassroots fundraising. Did this guy really flame out because of 'the scream?' I mean, is the angry thing the bit that turned everybody off? I'm starting to regret losing him, now that Kerry looks more and more like your regular hypocrite game-playing politician. The Republicans and Democrats are all little whores for sale and I'm sick of it, sick sick sick. If one politician of any party could convincingly rise above that, find some way to fund a campaign without corporate/union/special interest $$ I'd be so for him/her. We need massive, massive, massive campaign finance reform to take our government out of the hands of special interests and back to the voters.
That's all you've got? See, one of the GOP folks did it too!!!! But the problem with that is that Bill Clinton, the U.S. President, took money from the Chicoms from that cutout as did Senator Kerry. I think that is a greater threat to our national security (not to say that a FBI double-agent isn't one) than that single FBI agent. I could go on and on with all of the Democratic operatives who have been in bed with Communists, including Alger Hiss amongst others.
What Kerry took all that special interest money? That's it, I'm switching my vote and going for Bush now... But wait... Bush took more special interest money in one year than Kerry has in his entire senatorial career, Bush proposed legislation that helped pharmaceutical companies, the energy companies, the oil companies, logging, corporate farming, and those special interests are all huge donators and friends of the president. Well I guess on this issue the lesser of two evils is definitely Kerry.
What is a greater national threat than any of what you allege that the Dems did, is having a whitehouse official with top security clearance blowing the identity of undercover agents and ruining all of their contacts, and possible inside information gathering capabilities during the war on terror. That is a serious threat to our national security. And it's happening less than three years after we've been attacked. That's a felony that's been committed. This threat to our national security is still loose and still has top clearance to classified information. Furthermore Bush seems little concerned about it.
You're right. How could I even entertain the idea that this is significant. We all know how understanding you would be if a Democratic activist and fundraiser turned out to be "Chicom" spy. Let's talk about Alger Hiss instead.
