Executive privilege shield no longer valid excuse

I've said it before and I'll say it again: "The Simpsons" is the greatest show on television.

Case in point is last Sunday's episode.

The background was a corporate retreat, and Mr. Burns, paired with Homer, were in a race to a cabin in the mountains. Along the way Mr. Burns suggests that they should cheat, stating that simply relying on their god-given talents was silly.

"Cheating," he said in a voice dripping with rationalization, "is a gift man gives himself." The Democrats must certainly agree.

Over the past two months report after report has surfaced regarding the fund-raising activities of both the president and the Democratic National Committee. Apparently both parties saw a need and a unique opportunity to increase their fund-raising in the face of a strong Republican Party.

The first such scandal involved the Lippo group.

Over a period of three years the president entertained lobbyists from the Indonesian company at the White House, resulting in millions of dollars of contributions.

The money was funneled through John Huang, a former employee of both Lippo and the Commerce Department, to his new employer, the DNC.

Huang raised millions of dollars for the DNC. Once discovered, the DNC returned that money, claiming that "mistakes were made." If only it were that simple.

The bottom line is that the president, and the DNC, sold access to a foreign corporation, essentially selling American Foreign policy to representatives of a foreign, and occasionally hostile, government.

It is even more complicated than simple access. Huang was granted a top-secret security clearance by the Commerce Department, and received security briefings regarding China, all the while still employed by Lippo.

There is another Lippo connection. Webster Hubbell, the former associate attorney general who accepted a plea bargain to avoid prosecution, was paid $200,000 for "undisclosed services" in the time period between his resigning from the Justice Department and going to jail.

Does this sound like hush money to anyone else? Hubbell knew too much about the activities of the president, and was even offered a deal from the special prosecutor for information, yet he turned it down, took a light sentence, and pocketed two hundred grand. In return for taking care of the president, Lippo received access.

Access is what this is all about. The Democrats controlled the White House for the first time in twelve years. Two years later they lose Congress, and it looks as though the president is dead in the water. What do you do? You raise money and start fighting.

That would be fine if they had played by the rules.

One rule they absolutely violated was one that states that no government building will be used for fund raising activities. The Democrats apparently never heard that one.

Two years ago, strangely just after the Republicans took control of the house, the president started hosting "coffees" at the White House. Arranged by the DNC, these coffees were attended by high-level administration officials and business leaders alike.

During the last two years, the DNC raised $27 million from guests at the White House "Central Perk." In a press conference last week, Clinton said "Mistakes were made," similar to the "bureaucratic snafu" when he got caught with his hand in the FBI file cookie jar.

The time has come for a reckoning. The president can no longer hide behind executive privilege; he must answer for his actions.

The bottom line is this: everything we know about this president lends credence to the belief that he will do anything to get elected, including violate campaign finance laws under the guise of "community outreach" programs.

The president admitted his mistake, but that is not enough. He must now face the consequences of his actions.

I really don't like to do this, because I hate to give self-promoters attention, but I feel a need to clarify my comments regarding STRAIGHT. There have been extensive complaints from members that I unfairly characterized them as a hate group.

That sounds like hate and ignorance to me.