Was Sen. Vetter being blackmailed?

[KansDem]

It has been mentioned many times that the present administration may have blackmail capabilities with members of Congress. It has been speculated about that the Bushistas could have been eavesdropping on members of Congress in the name of "national security" in order to get the goods on individuals with whom the Bushistas could coerce into toeing the Bush Family line. We have often wondered why some Representative or Senator voted a certain way favorable to the Bushistas.

We have acknowledged that Bush and his mob were spying not so much on "terrorists" but on Bush critics and members of the opposition. We also have acknowledged that this tactic could have been extended to members of the President's own party as a means to keep the GOP "marching lockstep"--a characteristic for which it is famously known for. Could it be that Sen. Vetter--a man who appears to have a lot of hangups as well as brothel visits--could have been one such victim of blackmail? Let's say his "indiscretions" were discovered early on by the Bushistas. Let's say he was groomed to become the quintessential "Neo-Con Poster Boy." He wins a Senate seat with his hard-right rhetoric, then the Bushistas remind him of how he should vote and what stances to take by dangling his dangerous liaisons over his head like a hangman's noose. Don't forget, David Kuo, Bush's once second-in-charge for the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, writes how Bushista Karl Rove and others considered the Christian Conservatives as "nuts" and "out of control." Rove et al simply used the gullible fundamentalists as a means of achieving power. After that, they were ignored. So blackmailing neo-cons into submission would be no problem for the Bushistas.

I'm not excusing Sen. Vetter, he is a hypocrite of the highest order, but one wonders if the Bushistas had him by his diaper, and he followed willingly.

[pitohui]

1. i doubt it and here's why

#1 -- vitter has always been a fatuous fascist ass -- no one had to blackmail him to make him into this

#2 -- gossip about his escapades w. whores has followed him around pretty much forever, including a story that he has an illegitimate child, a story so old i can't even remember now how old the child is supposed to be

have to admit that the diaper fetish is a new one on me, never knew that one about the esteemed senator before, apparently carville did, wish he'd shared it w. the rest of the louisiana voters say about 20 years ago!!!!

[pitohui]

4. linky to other thread w photoshops, jokes, and gossip

if anyone has not yet enjoyed this thread, please visit:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1306341

those of us who have to put up w. senator vitter are entitled to a few jokes this time of century if you ask me, enjoy, it may seem juvenile but it's all in good fun :-)

[GeorgeGist]

22. But you forget ...

most Americans didn't know Vitter until this week. Now, why do you suppose that would be?

[havocmom]

2. You don't really believe all the wire taps are about terrorist suspects, do you?

Of course it is likely THEY all are being blackmailed for something. Wire taps are not about protecting Americans, only about protecting Americans involved in cheney/bush junta criminal activities.

[Robbien]

3. How many times have we seen a floor vote extended

while Tom Delay or Dick Cheney drags some congresscritters off to the side. Those congresscritters come back white faced and quickly change their vote to support the GOP.

Happened over and over again. Soon all Tom and Dick had to do is just look at a congresscritter and the critters would be scurrying off with the look on their faces saying they need to borrow one of Vitter's diapers.

[formercia]

5. I think so

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1311065&mesg_id=1311925

The boys like people with flaws Updated at 6:34 PM

it makes them susceptible to being co-opted or blackmailed. They want people they can control. The last thing they want is some 'Boy Scout' on a mission.

[leveymg]

12. Bush. Sr. is eminently blackmailable

for a number of things. See my comment below, and this underreported news item:

[formercia]

13. Perhaps that's why Poppy and Moon are so 'close.'

The True Parent surely knows more.

[leveymg]

14. Except that he scares the hell out of practically everyone who tries to uncover him

or, some have observed, simply has them killed in motel room bathtubs.

One of the former group is long-time Moonie Times reporter George Archibald, whose name is on the White House Call Boys article pictured above. It's notable that Archibald recentlt reviewed every major DC sex scandal in Huffington Post, but omitted even the smallest reference to the one involving Bush. See, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-archibald/walking-on-broken-glass_b_31059.html

[leveymg]

16. Another favorite cover-up tactic is "poisoning the well",

a Rovian tactic that involves raising a red-herring and then debunking it. That's illustrated in the White House "call boy ring" story when a sidebar story about kidnapping children for satanic sex practices in Nebraska was thrown out by a grand jury. The whole story, thereafter, was labelled a "hoax", and ignored by other major media as "conspiracy theory". See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_King; http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5D91638F934A1575AC0A966958260

That tactic was used again by Rove quite successfully in the TNG story. ending in Dan Rather's firing.

[EVDebs]

25. And the bizarre story of 'The Finders' with ties to the CIA

http://educate-yourself.org/cn/ciadrugsabusemurder.shtml

"CIA officials say they referred all matters concerning the Finders and the police investigation to the FBI's Foreign Counterintelligence Division. FBI officials will not comment. Law enforcement sources say some of the Finders are listed in the FBI's classified counterintelligence files."

WTF ?

[valerief]

6. The party of necons makes it a point to get sleazeballs elected.

They're so easy to blackmail.

[aquart]

7. DeLay knew everyone's special "tastes."

I honestly think I heard a congressman say so on Sixty Minutes. I doubt much had to be said. Vitter was safe as long as he pleased his masters and that was fine by him.

[mitchum]

8. Possibly...since that's one thing that organized crime does...

and there is NO DOUBT that bushco is a criminal organization

[pacalo]

9. Believe me, it comes naturally for him -- no blackmail required.

Also, I have been wondering if he's vindictive & as punitive as this administration. Maybe it's coincidental, but I've noticed that whenever I'd write or call Vitter about something, my son would get several recruitment mailings from the Army, Navy, Marines, etc.

[leveymg]

10. I'd say that BushCo has been blackmailed by even bigger fish than Karl Rove

in 1976, outgoing CIA Director G.H.W. Bush accepted billions in Saudi petrodollars to keep the Right-wing, covert action part of the CIA going when Congress and the Carter Administration tried to shut it down. That unauthorized deal was a major felony, and Bush and his spooky friends who accepted Saudi cash have been in the sheikh's back pockets ever since.

Three of the products of that partnership was the Pakistani atomic bomb, the A.Q. Khan network and al-Qaeda. See, http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1281780

[OzarkDem]

11. Absolutely

living here in Ohio, the GOP's laboratory for bad government and dirty politics, its highly likely they would use this kind of pressure to keep members in line.

[BonnieJW]

15. I've suspected as much for years.

That's the reason they didn't use the FISA courts; they were listening to EVERYbody. How many times did Frist profess to lean one way and the next day he was leaning Bush's way? Same thing with many other gopers.

[DemReadingDU]

17. morning kick

[lala_rawraw]

18. Vitter

[ryanus]

19. that is how it works

You get into a fairly high position and you are treated very well. You are treated to anything you want. Anything goes. Then they have dirt on you and use it to keep you in line. This tactic has been used be people in power for a very long time. The movie "The Firm" illustrates this. This is how a small group of people can neutralize a large group of other people in the organization and prevent them from speaking out when they witness crimes in the organization. This is how you control whistleblowers. I take it as an assumption that most promiment politicians and government appointees are in this situation.

[EVDebs]

21. Ranking member of one committee that could be important...Transp, Infrastructure Security, WaterQual

http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=BS022639

Assuming Chertoff's 'hunch' is correct.

[EVDebs]

20. Not out of realm of possibility. "Others in Congress and CIA" in this year old article

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12634250/

were NEVER followed up on by NBC's crack reporting team or ABC's for that matter,

"It's all part of a growing ongoing investigation into corruption in defense and intelligence contracts, which already has sent former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham to prison and, legal sources say, may threaten others in Congress and the CIA."

Imagine that, a year has gone by and Carol Lam is hasta la bye-bye now, and the FBI and M$M have shit-canned even looking for these "others". Por que, amigos ?

[erpowers]

23. No

I highly doubt Vitter was blackmailed by the Bush clan. I think he has always been a hard right guy. I do not think Vitter had one of those moments where he went from opposing Bush on certain issues and then turned into a lock step follower of Bush. In addition, I doubt their was any reason to black mail Vitter with the current situation in Louisiana. Even though the current governor is a conservative Democrat it is very likely that she would have appointed a Democrat to Vitter's seat if he had to resign as a result of his affair(s). I contend the Bush clan believes any Democrat is a bad Democrat, especially now that the Democrats have the majority. One more Democrat would be one more vote closer to being able to control Bush. So, all of Bush's threats would have been empty threats in that he could never have exposed Vitter without putting himself and his party in a worse situation than they are in now.

[slampoet]

24. Is there a better way to explain the silence of Louisianna Politicians in the face a Katrina?

I find few other reasons.

[rudy23]

26. Here's one--they hate New Orleans, too

Katrina is a big opportunity to many of these people to start redirecting some of that State money their way.

I don't doubt that blackmail is part of the picture, too.