What goes around …
Thursday looks to be the big day for U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., accused of violations by the House Ethics Committee. Barring some kind of deal between Rangel and the committee, a public hearing of the specific charges is scheduled. Rangel reportedly is being pressured to do something — accept the charges or resign — to avoid a public trial that could drag into the fall campaigning season and hurt Democrats.
There is symmetry in politics. Rangel has been a member of Congress since 1971. His predecessor representing the Harlem-area district was Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a powerful, suave but controversial figure who was weakened by ethics charges when Rangel beat him in the 1970 Democratic primary. Rangel has served more than 39 years but now has obvious problems of his own. Should Rangel survive them and seek re-election, he’d first have to get past the Democratic primary in September against … Adam Clayton Powell IV, the former congressman’s son.
Another scandal fizzles out
After two years of investigating, the Justice Department says there will be no charges in the Bush administration’s firing of a handful of U.S. attorneys in 2006. You remember the episode, right? Bush foes cried scandal when nine USA’s were cashiered for “performance-related” reasons. All federal prosecutors serve at the pleasure of the president. But it was alleged Karl Rove and the White House ousted the nine for political reasons and that administration officials misled Congress about it. The kerfuffle contributed to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in 2007. Yet the two-year probe apparently didn’t turn up anything prosecutable, which, of course, isn’t the same thing as a blanket exoneration. U.S. attorney-gate thus joins other Washington scandals that raised a ruckus for a time but didn’t amount to too much once the dust settled.
Hoping to outlast Obama
U.S. Supreme Court nominations bring out the partisanship in just about everyone in Washington, and Elena Kagan’s nomination is no different. Yet no matter how liberal Kagan might be, she — like Justice Sonia Sotomayor before her — is set to replace a liberal member of the court (Justice John Paul Stevens). Her fight is nothing like what would result if President Obama were picking the replacement for one of the court’s conservatives. Don’t hold your breath. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, 74 and a 22-year court veteran, is telling family and friends he isn’t retiring until after Obama’s first term, at the earliest, according to the New York Daily News. The Reagan appointee apparently wants to stay on until the next conservative president takes office, which would maintain the court’s current 5-4 conservative/liberal makeup. The other conservatives on the court also figure to be around awhile. Chief Justice John Roberts (55), and Justices Samuel Alito (60) and Clarence Thomas (62) are spring chickens relative to high court precedent. Justice Antonin Scalia, like Kennedy, is 74 but shows no sign of slowing down or restlessness. Barring something unforeseen the court’s current ideological mix figures to be in place for some time yet.
Blago’s antics
Too bad they don’t have live television cameras in the courtroom where former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is on trial for corruption. It sounds like some O.J. Simpson-like entertainment is going on. Jurors got an earful of Blago in December 2008, yelling at his campaign chief older brother, Robert, about the need for more campaign cash. What a pair! Robert can be heard yelling back that if Rod is so worried about funds he could nix sending out poinsettias and Christmas pictures. The Rod & Rob Show took another funny turn when the judge in the case told Rod to sit still and stop gesturing during the testimony of former chief of staff Alonzo “Lon” Monk. Blago sit still? Maybe if they put him in a straitjacket.
Dropped: ‘Law & Order’
They’re canceling “Law & Order.” No lie: NBC announced Friday the original New York-based crime/judicial series is not being renewed for another season. The last episode will air May 24. That might not seem like big news compared to Greece falling off the financial cliff or a terrorist trying to bomb Times Square, but the show has been on 20 years and will end up tied with “Gunsmoke” for the longest-running TV series ever.
Of course, L&O is famous for its opening narration: “In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups …” blah, blah, blah by a voice-over actor named Steven Zirnkilton. It spawned spin-offs including “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” “Criminal Intent” ran on NBC its first six seasons before moving to cable. NBC has renewed “Special Victims Unit” for a 12th season.
Law & Order’s successful formula devoted half the hour-long show with cops investigating a heinous crime and the other half with the prosecution of the case. The show claimed its inspiration from real crimes, ripped from the headlines, and usually leaned to the political left whenever possible, reflecting executive producer Dick Wolf’s liberal preferences. Its passing is a big deal in TV Land.
Smoke signals
Most folks know that when a new pope has been selected to head the Roman Catholic Church, white smoke vents from a smokestack atop the Sistine Chapel. There’s nothing like that in American politics, but maybe there should be when it comes to nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court. Until the president announces his choice, Beltway speculation on who it will be ricochets around like a bullet inside a concrete bunker.
The current buzz centers on Solicitor General and former Harvard law school dean Elena Kagan as the possible nominee to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. Politico reported President Barack Obama has picked Kagan, but Fox News’ Major Garrett said nothing is final yet. “It may well end up being her,” an official told Fox, “but there’s no white smoke yet.” Ah, see? White smoke!
As for Kagan, Beltway pundits figure she’s a front-runner because she’s just 50 and likely would be on the court for years to come. Besides that, she’s supposed to have the intellectual heft to duke it out with Justice Antonin Scalia, the anchor of the court’s conservative wing. No smoke signals, but all the other signs suggest we’ll soon know what Obama is going to do.
Goldman’s bleepity deal
Michigan Sen. Carl Levin had the Washington Beltway abuzz on Tuesday with questioning of Goldman Sachs bigshots that was punctuated with some salty verbiage. Now, Washington lost its “G” rating some time ago. Yet public cussing still makes some blush in shock, even if it’s feigned shock — like when people acted horrified to hear President Richard Nixon on his secret tapes using language that would peel paint off a wall.
Levin cornered the Goldman execs on an internal memo in which some mid-level whatever used a barnyard term to describe the execrable quality of a security the firm was selling. Levin reportedly used the same term 10 or 11 times as he bore in with questions. For those keeping score at home, Levin was quoting the Goldman memo a number of those times; only a few of his barnyard references actually constituted gratuitous profanity. Even so, Levin no doubt was making a point about the ethics of people in expensive dark suits sitting before him. In a word, (bleep).
Dr. Benjamin Hooks
When he took over leadership of the NAACP in 1977, Dr. Benjamin Hooks promised the civil rights organization, though its numbers then were dwindling, wasn’t nearly done agitating. Hooks, who was 85 when he died Thursday at his home in Tennessee, never tired of pushing for more on behalf of minorities and the poor. In the 1960s the lawyer/Baptist preacher was appointed to a Tennessee judgeship, making him the first black since the Civil War to sit on a state trial court in the South. Later he won election to his own term. In 1972, President Richard Nixon appointed him to the Federal Communications Commission. Five years later he took the NAACP post and helped boost its enrollment, serving until 1992. In 2007, President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Hooks’ legacy is long on service and devotion, an exacting formula for all who aim to make the world a better place.
Tuition for illegal immigrants
New Jersey won’t be joining the short list of states allowing undocumented students to attend college at in-state tuition rates. The effect, supporters said, is that children will be punished for the actions of their illegal immigrant parents and likely won’t attend college at all. The measure’s failure is rightfully disappointing although the in-state tuition denial has become a politically popular choice in many states. While higher education is not a right, it’s an opportunity that ought to be as widely available as possible for those who want it. Banning students who were young and had no say when their family immigrated slams shut the door of opportunity for many of those students who simply cannot afford the much higher price tag of out-of-state tuition. What good comes from that?
No parole for Manson family member
Convicted Manson Family murderer Susan Atkins was denied parole in California this week despite pleas from her husband and other supporters that the 61-year-old be released because she’s terminally ill with brain cancer and has just months to live. Atkins has served 38 years of a life sentence for her part in the 1969 Tate-LaBianca slayings whose victims included actress Sharon Tate. “Sexy Sadie,” as Atkins was called by cult leader Charles Manson, showed no remorse during her trial, but reportedly became a model prisoner. Her husband argued she should be released partly because it costs California $17,000 a year to maintain her in prison. Family members of the victims strongly urged the parole board to keep Atkins locked up. The board agreed, properly reasoning that such hearings actually are about victims of crime, who in Atkins’ case can’t speak for themselves. Said Sharon Tate’s sister, Debra: “I will pray for (Atkins’) soul when she draws her last breath, but until then I think she should remain in this controlled situation.”
