Funeralgate? Can someone explain for me

[Maine-ah]

I'm at work, so I may not be able to post again, but if someone could explain this for me I'd appreciate it! Thanks.

[havocmom]

1. Here's a bit - Problems with 'corpse abuse' & re-using graves

http://www.hereinreality.com/funeralgate.htm

Here's a new chapter in an old scandal involving a Bush contributor and longtime family friend, Robert Waltrip. This time it's the desecration of dead bodies, and George W. Bush is directly linked to this scandal (as is former FEMA director Joe Allbaugh, GW's Chief of Staff while governor of Texas). According to Fox News, Waltrip's company, a cemetery company called Service Corporation International (also known as Dignity Memorial) was "recycling" graves, removing the bodies that were there originally and throwing them in the woods to use the space to house new customers at two Jewish cemeteries in Florida.

Bush's connection to the story is that he was subpoenaed in 1999 but refused to testify in a lawsuit by an ousted Texas state employee as to what his involvement was in halting an investigation into SCI's embalming practices, among other things.

This was a big Texas scandal for our president at the time, but as you will learn from this Washington Post article dated August 31, 1999, a Texas judge put everything right for then-governor Bush, just in time to campaign for the Presidency.

Taxpayers of the state of Texas and SCI settled the lawsuit for $210,000 on November 9, 2001, weeks before the gruesome discovery made at two cemeteries in Florida caught the brief attention of the media.

http://www.caller2.com/2001/november/09/today/texasnew/17283.html

Friday, November 9, 2001
Governor approves the settlement of lawsuit involving President Bush

Associated Press

AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry has approved a settlement in a lawsuit filed by a former Texas regulator who accused President Bush of hindering an investigation into a funeral services company when he was governor, the governor's office said Thursday.

Former Texas Funeral Service Commission Director Eliza May alleged she was fired in 1999 because of her investigation into SCI, the world's largest funeral company.

Perry approved the settlement about a week ago, spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.

A source close to the case told The Associated Press the settlement was for $210,000. The funeral services company, Houston-based Service Corp. International, was to pay about $55,000 and the state was to pay the rest.

[Peanutcat]

4. Is it just me . . . . .

Or are a lot of people who know Bush just flat-out creepy?

[havocmom]

7. Anything to increase profits

They are all VERY religious. They worship the almighty dollar. People are just a means to an end for them all.

[havocmom]

5. And in related news:

http://web.archive.org/web/20020302163609/http://www.naplesnews.com/02/02/florida/d766847a.htm

Saturday, February 23, 2002

By AMANDA RIDDLE, Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH — The state Attorney General's Office is inspecting several cemeteries owned by Service Corporation International and intends to sue the company as early as next week, officials said Friday.

The office began spot inspections this week at three SCI-owned cemeteries in South Florida.

It wants to know if alleged problems exist at cemeteries other than the two investigated after families filed a lawsuit in December charging grave desecration, said Stephen LeClair, an assistant attorney general in Fort Lauderdale.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Bob Butterworth is reviewing a draft complaint charging SCI with unfair and deceptive trade practices but had a few questions for investigators, said his aide John deGroot.

[mzteris]

9. What do/did TX and FL have in common?

A Bush governor. . . .

Things that make you go "hmmmmmmmmm......"

[havocmom]

12. All things are connected

whether one wears tin foil or not ;)

[MrBenchley]

2. Here's a handy summary...

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/08/20/timeline/

[Ian David]

3. The latest wrinkle is that the funeralgate guy got shot by Cheney. n/t

[MrBenchley]

6. Yup....the NRA's Man of the Year for 2004 gets trigger-happy

then tries ot cover it up....

[havocmom]

8. And on a private ranch, lots of places to bury people. It's happened.

But he forgot he had his ambulance and medical team with him. Bet he really went off when they got the victim to an ICU

[MrBenchley]

10. Best line I've read so far....

From firedoglake...

"who thought it was a good idea to put a gun in the hands of a fat, drunken, ill-tempered gimp with a bad heart?"

http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/

[mzteris]

11. the connection

(Edit to answer my own original question)

"Harry Whittington of Austin, who was named presiding officer of the Funeral Service Commission after a major shakeup of agency in 1999, said his board reluctantly agreed to pay $50,000 as part of the settlement to end the 2-year-old case. Ms. May's lawyers had accused Mr. Bush of improperly intervening in the funeral commission investigation as a favor to his friend, Mr. Waltrip.

Mr. Waltrip served as a trustee for the George Bush Presidential Library, and SCI donated more than $100,000 toward its construction. Mr. Waltrip also contributed $45,000 to the younger Mr. Bush's gubernatorial campaigns.

While governor, Mr. Bush had dismissed the lawsuit as "frivolous" and filed a statement saying he "had no conversations with SCI officials, agents or representatives concerning the investigation or any dispute arising from it." But Newsweek reported that Mr. Bush had briefly appeared in a meeting that Mr. Allbaugh was holding in his state office with Mr. Waltrip and SCI lawyer Johnnie B. Rogers of Austin. Mr. Rogers was quoted by the magazine as saying that Mr. Bush addressed Mr. Waltrip, saying, "Hey, Bobby, are those people still messing with you?"

According to the magazine, when Mr. Waltrip responded "Yes," the governor turned his attention to Mr. Rogers. The magazine quoted Mr. Rogers as saying that Mr. Bush said, "Hey, Johnnie B., are you taking care of him?"




http://www.bushwatch.com/gravedigger.htm