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All It Takes Is A Monica

I have already scratched Fred “Arthur Branch” Thompson off my list of possible Republican presidential nominees, even though he has yet to formally announce.  The reason, as reported by tpmmuckraker.com, is because Fred’s backers are trying to bring Tim Griffin into the campaign.  Griffin, a Karl Rove protégé who just resigned as interim U. S. Attorney in Arkansas, is an effective political operative.  He’s also as dirty and mucky as the La Brea tar pits and will irreversibly stain the Thompson campaign when the mainstream media (MSM) figures out why he’s important.

First, some background.  When Monica Goodling finally agreed to testify before Congress under the cloak of immunity, part of the investigation into the firings and harassment of United States Attorneys by Alberto Gonzalez and the White House, she apparently disclosed everything that could have gotten her indicted without immunity.  Credit that to good legal advice.  The MSM focused on her admission that she made hiring recommendations based on partisan politics.  To a lesser extent, the MSM also mentioned that she testified that Paul McNulty, Gonzalez’ Deputy Attorney General, had perjured himself before Congress.  The lie?  McNulty denied that Monica had told him about Griffin’s involvement in “caging” voters in 2004.

As investigative reporter and author Greg Palast has pointed out,  Goodling’s mostly overlooked statement may have opened a window into a felonious conspiracy of Watergate proportions.  The reason?  Caging, in its electoral iteration, is a felony.

Caging is a mass marketing term.  It refers to the practice of sending letters marked “Do Not Forward.”  When the letters are returned to the sender, usually mass marketers, the recipients are deleted from the mail lists.  That makes economic sense.  Why waste postage?

However, caging in the electoral world is entirely different.  In that version of caging, votes can be challenged on the ground that the voters do not live at the address listed in the voting rolls.  If those voters submit ballots and the ballots are challenged, they are designated “provisional ballots” and may not be counted.  The voters who are targeted by political caging operations are mostly college students, homeless individuals, and American service personnel.

Obviously, if a political campaign targets precincts and individuals who are likely to vote for the opposition, the caging operation could influence and perhaps change the election results.  According to Palast, who claims to have obtained emails with the caging lists, Republican operatives, including Rove and Griffin, targeted African-American voters in a caging operation.  In other words, voters who were more likely to vote for Democrats.

Caging is electoral fraud and a felony.  Monica Goodling told the congressional committee that Tim Griffin had been involved in caging voters in 2004.  Griffin was apparently awarded for his election work by being appointed the interim U. S. Attorney for Arkansas.  No wonder the conservative Democratic Senator from Arkansas, Mark Pryor, is glad to see him go.

He’s apparently going to join the Thompson campaign, and they’re probably glad to get him.  Campaigns lust after heavy-hitters the way general managers lust after star quarterbacks.  Winning is everything.  If the star has a few skeletons here and there – a few domestic violence charges, an illegitimate child or two, questionable acquaintances – that just goes with the package.  The Dick Morrises and Tim Griffins are the political equivalent.  Winning is everything.

But Griffin is potential trouble for the Thompson campaign, assuming that Congressional Democrats and the MSM follow up on the Goodling lead.  Americans of all political persuasions tend to have a sense of fair play.  They don’t like liars and cheaters, and they turn against them when the lies and cheating are exposed.  Most Americans now believe that President Bush lied to them when he took the nation to war, which is why his approval rating is cratering.  Bill Clinton’s lies about the other Monica didn’t lead to impeachment and conviction, but they helped undermine Al Gore’s campaign in 2000.  Heck, some people are still angry about Milli Vanilli.

If Fred Thompson hires Griffin, it won’t take his opponents, the media (even the MSM) and the voters long to connect the dots:  Griffin is a cheater.  Fred hired a cheater.  Fred can’t win without cheating.  Politically, Fred is dead.  He’d be much better off remaining a Branch.  Americans like TV actors, especially the ones on “Law and Order.”  They don’t much like politicians, and they smell blood when they catch one cheating, or wanting to.  Griffin  will pull Thompson down like a giant squid with a diving bell.

Griffin could also pull down Rove, Gonzalez, and possibly Bush if he’s linked to illegal caging.  It could happen.

All it takes is a Monica.

© May 31, 2007 by Mike Tully

All content on this page © by Mike Tully