No quick exit for Thompson advisor: This is from The Los Angeles Times;
NEW YORK — Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson said Sunday that a friend with a criminal record for cocaine and marijuana sales would remain a top fundraiser for his campaign while he evaluates the situation.
For months, Thompson has been flying to campaign events around the country in a private jet lent to his campaign by Alabama developer Philip J. Martin, who has known the former Tennessee senator for more than a decade.
"I know Phil is a good man," Thompson said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "He is my friend. He is going to remain my friend."
In 1979, Martin pleaded guilty to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana, the Washington Post reported Sunday. In 1983, the newspaper said, he pleaded no contest to charges of cocaine trafficking and conspiracy stemming from a plan to sell $30,000 worth of the drug.
Thompson, a former federal prosecutor, said he first learned of Martin's criminal background Saturday. The crimes occurred when Martin was in his 20s and living in Florida, Thompson said.
"I'm not going to throw my friend under the bus for something he did, you know, 25 years ago if he's OK now," Thompson said. "On the other hand, I'm running for president. I've got, you know, to do the right thing, you know, and problems occur, and I'll just have to figure it out."
You know, if a former coke dealer had given hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to a Democratic presidential candidate, and lent that candidate a private plane for the candidate's use on the campaign trail, you can bet that the Right Wing Noise Machine would be screaming bloody hell that this Democratic candidate is taking money from a drug dealer--the Democratic candidate must give the money back or drop out of the race! That Democratic candidate is supporting drug dealers and exposing our children with drug abuse! But if it is a Republican presidential candidate that is taking money and favors from a drug dealer, well then that's okay--that drug dealer has paid his debt to society! Or even worst--Oops! We didn't know he was a drug dealer.
In Pakistan, Thousands Protest Emergency Rule: Looks like Pakistan is being ripped apart, now that President Musharraf has suspended the Pakistani constitution and declared a state of emergency. This is off The Washington Post;
SLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 5 -- Police used tear gas and baton charges Monday to break up protests as thousands of lawyers took to the streets across Pakistan in the first significant demonstrations against President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule on Saturday.
The largest rally took place in the eastern city of Lahore, where lawyers and police battled each other at the city's High Court complex. Several lawyers were injured, and hundreds were arrested before the protesters were dispersed.
Lawyers vowed to continue their protests in the coming days.
"We are determined that until there is freedom for the judges and the overturn of emergency rule, this war will continue," said Anwar Shaheen, a lawyer in Lahore. "They can't quiet us."
Clashes between authorities and protesters also took place in the western city of Peshawar, the southern city of Karachi and elsewhere on Monday. In Islamabad, hundreds of lawyers shouting "Go Musharraf, go!" and "Musharraf is a dog!" protested at the district courts but were blocked from taking their procession to the streets.
"He has held the whole nation of 160 million people hostage, just with the backing of the gun and the Western powers," said one protesting lawyer, M.S. Moghul.
As for the Bush administration's response to this crisis, there really isn't much of a response. Secretary of State Condi Rice asks for Pakistan to "quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections." White House spokeswoman Dana Perino ratcheted up the rhetoric, saying "We cannot support emergency rule or the extreme measures taken during the emergency....Such actions are not in Pakistan's best interest and damage the progress Pakistan has made on its path to democracy." The Bush administration has suspended annual defense talks with Pakistan, that were to begin Tuesday. But how much do you want to bet that this suspension of defense talks is only temporary? Rice also said that the administration will review the $150 million-a-month assistance program that the U.S. gives to Pakistan, but again, I'm thinking that this is only talk to make the U.S. sound tough on Pakistan. If Musharraf is able to crack down on these riots in the next week or so, all this U.S. talking tough will vanish. But if Musharraf is confronted with a full-blown revolt in his country, will the Bush administration take action against Pakistan? I seriously doubt that.
PetroChina tops $1 trillion market cap in debut: I'm posting this Marketwatch story with a one-word comment--WOW! From Marketwatch;
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- PetroChina Co. shares more than doubled in their Shanghai debut Monday, giving the oil giant a $1 trillion market capitalization and easily surpassing Exxon Mobil as the world's largest company.
The shares ended at 43.96 yuan, up from their initial-public-offering price of 16.70 yuan.
The runup gave the oil giant a market capitalization of $1.005 trillion, more than twice that of Exxon Mobil at $480.45 billion.
[....]
PetroChina sold 4 billion yuan-denominated shares in Shanghai last week, raising 66.8 billion yuan ($8.94 billion) in China's largest-ever IPO.
[....]
PetroChina listed shares in Hong Kong and New York in 2000 at a time when the nation's stock markets were considered ill-equipped to handle a multibillion-dollar offering.
The 21.1 billion PetroChina shares listed in Hong Kong, known as H shares, represent a market value of $48.96 billion. PetroChina's Hong Kong shares fell 8.2% to HK$18 on Monday.
The Chinese government holds 157.92 billion PetroChina shares indirectly through the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. PetroChina's 4-billion-share sale last week represents about 2.5% of the oil giant's total shares listed there.
About two-thirds of the shares on Shanghai market are held by state entities and classed as inactive.
6 comments:
Hmmm. Coke Dealer as a top fundraiser??? Well in a very skewed way the fundraiser at least has a steady base of contributors. I only hope for Thompson's sake that his friend does not give a "bump" instead of a receipt!
Hello Jude:
And thank you for your comment. I couldn't believe it when I read the story myself. In one sense, I could care less if Fred Thompson's campaign is funded by an army of coke dealers and pushers--just as long as we are informed that Thompson is financed by the illicit pharmaceutical industry. But this is an age of extreme partisan politics. You can bet that the Republicans will scream holy heck if a Democratic candidate was taking contributions from a drug dealer. Now I won't scream holy heck against Thompson for taking contributions from Martin. But looking at Thompson's appearance on Meet The Press last week, I'm starting to wonder if Thompson's taking something that was prescribed by Martin and the illicit pharmaceutical industry. He was completely loony.
He did look a bit lethargic. I am all for people cleaning up their act and becoming responsible citizens but to have a "reformed" coke dealer on your staff is pushing the envelope. Voters may assume that Thompson is a bit soft on drug crimes and that would not bode well for his campaing platforms. All in all this will prove to be a very interesting campaign.
Fred Thompson is "a bit lethargic?" Now that is an understatement! Thompson's presidential campaign is a disaster. Fred Thompson brings nothing new to the presidential campaign in terms of solutions to the problems this country faces. I've even seen news and blog posts suggesting that Thompson is lazy on the campaign, that he doesn't really want to be president. But Fred Thompson is sitting in second place for the GOP nomination in the national polls. So I guess the hard-core conservatives love Fred Thompson, but adore the fascist Rudy Giuliani even more.
And since Freddie didn't know about his friend's drug smuggling problem, well that's okay. Fred's still tough on crime!
Don't get me started on Rudy!!! His little cell phone luvfests with the Judester made me throw up!
You could have a threesome here--Rudy, his wife, and the audience of brain-dead, Republican zombies engaged in a wild orgy of how much they love each other, and dream of a fascist, police state, brimming with neo-con love.
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