Sep 21, 2005 at 5:48 PM by Political Chase
Sharon Olds, a poet, giving Laura Bush her regrets for an invitation to attend a dinner…
I tried to see my way clear to attend the festival in order to bear witness—as an American who loves her country and its principles and its writing—against this undeclared and devastating war.
But I could not face the idea of breaking bread with you. I knew that if I sat down to eat with you, it would feel to me as if I were condoning what I see to be the wild, highhanded actions of the Bush Administration.
What kept coming to the fore of my mind was that I would be taking food from the hand of the First Lady who represents the Administration that unleashed this war and that wills its continuation, even to the extent of permitting "extraordinary rendition": flying people to other countries where they will be tortured for us.
So many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach it.
Read the whole story.
—–
Sep 21, 2005 at 4:37 PM by Political Chase
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist dumped all of his stock in his family’s coporation two weeks before disappointing earnings caused the stock to drop 15%. The corporation, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), was started by Frist’s father; his brother is a director and the largest shareholder.
Ya think Senator Frist had any prior knowledge of the financials before they were announced? Certainly not!
Given Frist’s role of Senate Majority Leader, Frist’s assets were held in a blind trust, but blind is somewhat misleading.
Blind trusts are used to avoid conflicts of interest. Assets are turned over to a trustee who manages them without divulging any purchases or sales and reports only the total value and income earned to the owner.
To keep the trust blind, Frist was not allowed to know how much HCA stock he owned, [Amy Call, a spokeswoman for Frist] said, but he was allowed to ask for all of it to be sold.
Frist, a surgeon first elected to the Senate in 1994, had been criticized for maintaining the holdings while dealing with legislation affecting the medical industry and managed care. Call said the Senate Select Committee on Ethics has found nothing wrong with Frist’s holdings in the company in a blind trust.
"To avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, Senator Frist went beyond what ethics requires and sold the stock," Call said. Asked why he had not done so before, she said, "I don’t know that he’s been worried about it in the past."
Frist’s family is reported to be worth $1.1 billion. Frist’s share of the HCA stock is believed to be somewhere between $7 million and $35 million.
—–
