Who is this whittington guy anyway?

[undergroundpanther]

Remember"funeralgate"????



The New York Times reported late Sunday that Whittington was commissioner of the state's Funeral Service Commission. In 1999, George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, named Whittington to head the Commission, which licenses and regulates funeral directors and embalmers in the state. "When he was named," the Times revealed, "a former executive director of the commission, Eliza May, was suing the state, saying that she had been fired because she investigated a funeral home chain that was owned by a friend of Mr. Bush.

"The suit was settled in 2001, but the details were not disclosed."

http://www.unknownnews.org/0602140212itchytrigger.html

[Kelvin Mace]

1. True, but Molly Ivans

said he's a pretty decent guy:

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=20358

It's not as though the ground in Texas is littered with liberal Republicans. I think the vice president winged the only one we've got.

Not that I accuse Harry Whittington of being an actual liberal — only by Texas Republican standards, and that sets the bar about the height of a matchbook. Nevertheless, Whittington is seriously civilized, particularly on the issues of crime, punishment and prisons. He served on both the Texas Board of Corrections and on the bonding authority that builds prisons. As he has often said, prisons do not curb crime, they are hothouses for crime: "Prisons are to crime what greenhouses are to plants."

In the day, whenever there was an especially bad case of new-ignoramus-in-the-legislature — a "lock 'em all up and throw away the key" type — the senior members used to send the prison-happy, tuff-on-crime neophyte to see Harry Whittington, a Republican after all, for a little basic education on the cost of prisons.

When Whittington was the chairman of Texas Public Finance Authority, he had a devastating set of numbers on the demand for more, more, more prison beds. As Whittington was wont to point out, the only thing prisons are good for is segregating violent people from the rest of society, and most of them belong in psychiatric hospitals to begin with. The severity of sentences has no effect on crime.

Texas still keeps the nonviolent, the retarded, senior citizens, etc. locked up for ridiculous periods — all at taxpayer expense. If we could ever get to where we spend as much per pupil on education as we do per prisoner, this state would take off like a rocket. In 2003, we spend nearly $15,000 per prisoner, while average per-pupil spending was just over $8,000.

[nashville_brook]

2. whittington is the Katrina 'gravedigger."

has the contract -- apparently his business practices appealed to the admin.

[Jane Austin]

5. NO, he is not.

Why would you spread a falsehood like this?

Are you trying to make DU look bad?

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. Whittington is not part of SCI --

he's just the lawyer who managed to protect *'s connection to Funeralgate, and shut down the investigation of SCI, which was a major Bush contributor and subsequently received the contract for Katrina.

One degree of separation.

[nashville_brook]

13. hey jane -- gee, sorry... he's the LAWYER for the company

hope DU survives.

[deutsey]

12. He seems to be a decent guy, despite being a Republican

AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. Can you tell us, first, reaction in Texas right now and just who Harry Whittington is?

ROBERT BRYCE: Sure. Well, you know, here in Austin, in particular, you know, and I speak personally, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Harry Whittington. He is a wonderful guy, personally very warm. He's been active in state politics trying to -- doing volunteer work, trying to improve the state's prison system, mental health systems. He's volunteered -- sits as the chairman of the Texas Funeral Service Commission. He's a very personally very honorable guy and a man of tremendous principle. And Democrats and Republicans alike have tremendous respect for him.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/15/1436208

[JeffR]

3. "the details were not disclosed"

I've never seen a pithier description of this (mis)administration than that.

[undergroundpanther]

6. more

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

Prison rape too??
http://www.bestofaustin.com/issues/dispatch/2002-10-18/pols_naked3.html

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

http://www.counterpunch.org/leopold09152005.html

[JeffR]

7. Thanks undergroundpanther

I hadn't paid enough attention to this story before.
:toast:

[Sanity Claws]

4. Is he an orphan?

Just wondering because we have not heard anything from his family. If your son, brother, daddy or husband got shot by the VP who then covered it, wouldn't you be hooting and hollering? Or at least asking for prayers or making some other statement?
The silence of the family is deafening.

[undergroundpanther]

9. Who knows

Was whittington threatening to "talk".. Did whittington threaten to speak about what he knew about "funeralgate"

Alot of accidents happen to people who do not do as this admin wants around the press..Bush's ex girlfriend who got an abortion was accidentally killed,his maid too,Wellstone crashed..How many more people have met"ahem,unfortunate ends" when they deal with bush and find out they are in too deep and reach out for help?..

Google it,or look for old newspaper articles about"accidental deaths" occuring around the gruesome sociopathic Bush crime syndicate. It's just creepy.

[Ian David]

8. See related thread- Remember: Harry Whittington is THE FUNERALGATE LAWYER

Remember: Harry Whittington is THE FUNERALGATE LAWYER
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=426465&mesg_id=426465

[deutsey]

11. Check out this interview from Democracy Now! this morning

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/15/1436208

Harry Whittington, the Austin lawyer and Republican fundraiser V.P. Dick Cheney shot during a hunting trip, has suffered a heart attack. The incident has embarrassed the White House and made headlines around the world, among them: "We are all Harry Whittington.” The Bush administration has come under criticism for its long delay in informing the public on both the incident and Whittington’s condition. The incident has also raised new questions about cronyism and lobbying at the White House. We speak with Texas-based journalist Robert Bryce, author of "Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America's Superstate."