The Drip-Drip-Drip of George Allen’s Dirty Laundry
08 October 2006 2:00 pm by Taylor Marsh
The Drip-Drip-Drip of George Allen's Dirty Laundry
| Not even the horse wants this ass on his back! |
Allen's “macaca” troubles are bad enough, but even those just got worse.
However, now something new has broken out. It seems Allen didn't report
his stock options. He just doesn't understand the difference between right and
wrong. Evidently Allen thinks privilege equals an exemption. On that he's in
lock step with George W. Bush.
Ryan Lizza, who first
filled out the story of Allen's passion for hanging a noose in his office and
his love for the Confederate flag, tipped the world to yet two
more people who heard Allen use the “n” word.
Mind you, it's not just the use of the “n” word, but the continual
refusal of George Allen to admit it, apologize, then move on. It's the “macaca”
lie all over again, made worse because he just keeps making stuff up. Allen
refuses to take responsibility for his past actions.
Now we find out that not only is George Allen incapable of learning from
his mistakes, but he's got the Dennis Hastert virus. He refuses to come clean
and tell the truth about things in which he was involved because of politics.
Allen puts ethics, transparency and accountability second to political gain
and gaming the system.
For the past five years, Sen. George Allen (news, bio, voting record), has
failed to tell Congress about stock options he got for his work as a director
of a high-tech company. The Virginia Republican also asked the Army to help
another business that gave him similar options.(snip)
An Associated Press review of Allen's financial dealings from that era found
that the senator:_Did not have to look far to find corporate suitors, joining three Virginia
high-tech companies he assisted as governor. Allen served on boards of directors
for Xybernaut and Commonwealth Biotechnologies and advised a third company
called Com-Net Ericsson, all government contractors._Twice failed to promptly alert the Securities and Exchange Commission of
insider stock transactions as a Xybernaut and Commonwealth director. The SEC
requires timely notification and can fine those who file late._Kept stock options provided to him for serving as a director of Xybernaut
and Commonwealth, but steered other compensation from his board service to
his law firm.
Allen's explanation for not disclosing his stock options is not only ridiculous
but dishonest: Allen viewed them as worthless and believed in “good
faith” he did not have to report them, aides said.
What Allen doesn't understand is that this is about ethics. But the Republican Party seems to forget that ethics is more important than politics, because from the top on down every one of them seems to be covering for their own. From sexual predators to racists to failing to disclose stock options, which is the law, Republicans think accountability is for everyone else but them.
The disclosure requirements exist so the public can watch for potential conflicts
of interest, and Allen had an obligation to report his Commonwealth stock
options to Congress, two ethics experts said.“As an ethical matter, it's irrelevant whether the exercise price of
those stock options is above or below the current market price of the stock,”
said Kathleen Clark, a Washington University of St. Louis law professor, former
prosecutor and former Democratic congressional aide.“If he owns stock options, he does have such a financial stake, whether
the exercise price is above or below current market value.”Lawyer Marc Elias, who represents Democrats in ethics cases, said the conflict
issue is even clearer because Commonwealth gets federal contracts.“Unlike some other controversies that have come up from time to time,
this is a situation where the underlying asset is in a company that has business
before Congress,” Elias said. (source: AP)
The more we learn about George Allen the less deserving he becomes to be in the Senate. How he
got elected all the times he did is a testament to a serious good old boy network
in Virginia that is being crashed by the Democrats and other Virginians who
have had enough of Republicans who believe their crimes are above the law.
