Darrell Issa May Be A Common Thug-- But He's A Very Rich One With A Knack For Wriggling Out Of Responsibility

You probably read in the past few days how GOP crybaby Darrell Issa is promising avaricious corporate managers that if the GOP regains control of the Senate they'll be able to breathe easy again. He has every intention of using the chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to harass the Obama Administration with obstructionist subpoenas while ignoring, as conservatives always do, the rape and pillage of America by corporations. Like Dave Cameron explained-- with a little song and dance-- that's what conservatives do.

I ran across a blog I had never seen before, J. Miller Rampant! The guy certainly put together the best analysis of the horrifying and disturbing career of Issa. He saw the same reports about Issa bragging to wingnuts that he plans to destroy Obama and lead Republicans-- and America-- down another traumatic impeachment rabbit hole. His response is something every America should see:

In this article from the San Francisco Chronicle, we see the interesting story of Darrell and his brother, who set up a phony car theft and then sold the "stolen" car to a Mercedes-Benz dealer.

In the San Jose case, Issa, who at the time was a 27-year-old U.S. Army officer, and William Issa, 29, were arrested by San Jose police on a felony auto-theft charge in February 1980.

They were accused of a scheme in which Issa's brother allegedly sold Issa's cherry-red Mercedes 240 to Smythe European Motors in San Jose for $13,000 cash and three $1,000 traveler's checks. Within hours, Issa reported the car stolen from a lot at the Monterey airport, near his Army post at Fort Ord.

Issa and his brother pleaded not guilty. A judge ordered them to stand trial on felony charges, saying he had a "strong suspicion" that the men had committed the crime, according to the records.

The case was not prosecuted because the DA didn't think he had a strong enough case, even though strong suspicions still surrounded the Issa brothers. Darrell was also suspected of involvement with two other car thefts, but he blamed his brother William for both of them and denied any wrongdoing. At the time the Chronicle published this article, by the way, Issa was spearheading the movement to recall California Governor Gray Davis, a movement which eventually led to the disastrous governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger. You will recall that this recall campaign aided and abetted Enron's looting of California via the phony "electricity crisis."

The Media Matters Action Network has assembled a synopsis of Issa's wretched, scandal-plagued political career right here. Among the interesting findings:

AC Custom Fire: Flammable Liquid Had "Been Poured On The Only Area Not Covered By Fire Sprinklers." The Los Angeles Times reported that "seven months after Issa took control," a fire broke out at the "Quantum manufacturing plant." "Case files from Maple Heights, the Ohio fire marshal and insurers pointed repeatedly to the likelihood of arson in the blaze, which officials estimated caused $800,000 in damage. Although an accident could not be ruled out, the uneven and unnatural burn patterns made the blaze 'suspicious in nature,' the state concluded two months later. Flammable liquid appeared to have been poured on the only area not covered by fire sprinklers, investigators found." [Los Angeles Times, 5/23/98, via Nexis, emphasis added]

Issa Has Received Nearly $40,000 From The National Beer Wholesalers Association. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Issa has received a total of $38,500 from the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) in contributions since 2000.

NBWA Was A Leading Supporter Of Bush Tax Breaks. According to the Center for Responsive Politics: "The NBWA...was a leading supporter of President Bush's proposed package of business tax breaks in 2001." [Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 5/31/10]

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) Has Given Issa More Than $64,000 Since 2000. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Issa has received $64,150 in total contributions from the company Science Applications International Corporation from 2000-2010. [Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 2/3/10]

SAIC Produced Faulty Software For The FBI. According to SignOnSanDiego.com: "SAIC's custom software, known as Virtual Case File, was intended to help FBI agents and analysts track terrorists and manage criminal investigations. When SAIC delivered the product, [FBI Director Robert Mueller testified that] at least 400 problems were found with the software." The contract between SAIC and the FBI was worth "170 million dollars." [SignOnSanDiego.com, 2/3/05]

In PERRspectives's "Top 10 Darrell Issa Hall of Shame Moments," (located here) we find the following tidbits:

Issa Calls 9/11 Attacks in New York a Plane Crash

No doubt, Issa's slur against World Trade Center rescue workers was the most unforgettable moment in a truly forgettable political career.

Desperate to refuse federal funds to the ailing workers who rushed to Ground Zero, Issa denied the September 11 carnage was an attack on the United States at all. As the New York Post summed it up:

"It's very simple: I can't vote for additional money for New York if I can't see why it would be appropriate to do this every single time a similar situation happens, which quite frankly includes any urban terrorist. It doesn't have to be somebody from al Qaeda. It can be someone who decides that they don't like animal testing at one of our pharmaceutical facilities."

Issa said the destruction of the World Trade Center did not involve a dirty bomb or a chemical weapon designed to make people sick.

"It simply was an aircraft, residue of the aircraft and residue of the materials used to build this building," Issa said.

Issa also viciously defended Blackwater from charges of committing atrocities, and accused those investigating Blackwater of "going after the troops"(!). He further accused Valerie Plame of perjury, and helped force out federal prosecutor Carol Lam with a phony report accusing her of "lax" enforcement of the immigration laws. The purge of Lam was done in retaliation for her successful prosecution of the crook "Duke" Cunningham [and because she was investigating, and thought to have the goods on Rep. Jerry Lewis, a clsoe crony of both Issa's and Cunningham's].

Oh, and Issa also fought against a bill protecting homeowners from predatory lenders.

Issa lied repeatedly and brazenly in the Countrywide VIP loan scandal. Issa lied about evidence and lied about the involvement of Democrats in the matter.

Issa also blatantly lied about the so-called "Train to Sin City", a non-existent piece of the stimulus plan that supposedly financed a high speed train from LA to Las Vegas at the behest of Harry Reid. David Shuster shot Issa down HARD, calling him on his lie in no uncertain terms.



Issa also blatantly lied when he claimed, in a debate with Debbie Wasserman Schultz, that the Republicans had been shut out of helping to shape Health Care Reform. Wasserman Schultz was having none of it:

Schultz: That is just a brazenly false statement. From the very beginning...

Issa: Is that like you lied?

Schultz: No, it's a brazenly false (crosstalk). With all due respect there are two hundred amendments that were offered and accepted by Republicans, offered by Republicans and accepted by Democrats and incorporated into this bill. This is a bill that is bipartisan in content, unfortunately not bipartisan in the outcome of the votes. We gave every opportunity over and over again and the American people saw a President in Obama extend his hand and saw Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid ask Republicans repeatedly to sit down with the rest of the negotiating table and we were repeatedly rejected.

After Issa pretends like they would have used the amendment process for anything other than trying to either stall or shut down the bill being passed and Blitzer repeating his Republican talking points about major pieces of social legislation never being passed without bipartisan support Schultz comes back again.

Schultz: It passed without any Republican support by their choice.

Issa has also lied about his own military service:

As several politicians have been snared thanks to fibbing about their military records, TPM took a trip down memory lane exploring others who exaggerated service. It turns out that 12 years ago when Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) was running for Senate, the San Francisco Examiner uncovered that his Army record was in doubt.

The Examiner published in May 1998 a devastating article detailing the conflicts between Issa’s public statements and public records. A focus in the story was Issa’s claim he protected then-President Richard Nixon as part of an “elite Army bomb unit” at the World Series in 1971. But it turns out Nixon didn’t even attend the games.

The Examiner scoured military records and concluded that Issa’s service on the squad “was marred by a bad conduct rating, a demotion and allegations that he had stolen a fellow soldier’s car.” It cited his 1998 campaign biography saying he served in the Army nine years, even though records showed he served just over five years.

In Darrell Issa we are facing one of the very worst, most dishonest, most unprincipled, most corrupt, most fanatically right-wing of our opponents. He lacks any shred of decency or concern for the average person. And it is this despicable, loathsome, pathologically lying man who will use his power to ruin President Obama unless we act to stop him, by getting out the Democratic vote in November.

It's simple: either we vote, or this son of a bitch Issa gets to ruin the United States of America.