Posted by
Patrick Henry on Monday, March 30, 2009 3:57:12 PM
The feared ides of March have come and gone, and it's once again time
to bestow the dreaded Golden Turkey award on the politician or public
figure with the most monumental screw-up of the month. Many were worthy,
but only one has been chosen.
When all was said and done, Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd
had outstripped all other pretenders -- by a country mile. A damning admission
that he had penned the fatal clause allowing AIG execs their exhorbitant
bonuses without bailout strings was enough to do it, even though he later
blamed it on Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, a worthy nominee in his own
right. His role in hammering out the pork-riddled stimulus bill behind closed
doors and rushing it through before even his own colleagues had a chance
to read it is undeniable.
But what seals the deal is the context of corruption surrounding the senator.
He bought an Irish country cottage at well below market price from a person
whom he had personally helped to get a presidential pardon. He arranged a
sweetheart mortgage from Countrywide, a now-failed lender over whom he
had shared oversight. Dodd strongarmed AIG employees into coughing up
more than $160,000 in campaign contributions, and was the largest single
benefactor of contributions from troubled federal mortgage lenders Freddie
Mac and Fannie Mae. How can there not be an ethical conflict with taking
money from organizations over which you have oversight? Whichever
party one belongs to, C-R-O-O-K is still spelled the same. Wear it, Senator
Dodd! You've richly earned it.
This Golden Turkey is for you, Senator. Enjoy it in poor health!