[IP] more on Bush Administration Punishes some who donated to Kerry

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501@bobf.frankston.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 14:51:14 -0400
To: <dave@farber.net>, 'Ip' <ip@v2.listbox.com>
Cc: "John F. McMullen" <observer@westnet.com>
Subject: RE: [IP] Bush Administration Punishes some who donated to Kerry

How does this differ from demanding bribes? Are there lawyers on this list
-- when do such shenanigans become criminal offenses equivalent to demanding
bribes? 

Perhaps this is just another example of misunderstanding the marketplace and
viewing facts as just commodities that can be bought or sold and traded for
the result you want. Have faith and only accept the answers you want.

At least in kleptocracies you could buy an audience. This is even worse --
you are punished for nonconformance or heresy.

It's akin to Spain in 1492 when it opted out of the world for 500 years.
They did luck out that year when they invested in a sea captain who grossly
miscalculated the circumference of the earth (whose true value had been
known for many centuries) so he assumed he could reach India. He lucked out
(while misnaming the natives) and that gave them a source of loot to cover
the lack of an effective economy -- sort of like countries do now as they
use exploit resources and past investments without new investments in their
people or economy.

Remember you can achieve your financial targets by cutting R&D and other
"expenses" and then be proud of your financial acumen.

My point is not so much to take cheap shots at these policies as to point
out how they can appear to work in the short term while frightening those of
us who look at the consequences.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ip@v2.listbox.com [mailto:owner-ip@v2.listbox.com] On Behalf Of
David Farber
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 07:19
To: Ip
Subject: [IP] Bush Administration Punishes some who donated to Kerry


------ Forwarded Message
From: Randall <rvh40@insightbb.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 00:47:37 -0400
To: JMG <johnmacsgroup@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: Dave <dave@farber.net>
Subject: Bush Administration Punishes some who donated to Kerry

http://tinyurl.com/9zvzk

Any Kerry Supporters On The Line?
The Bush Administration punishes some Democrat backers
By VIVECA NOVAK AND JOHN DICKERSON

Sunday, Apr. 24, 2005
The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meets three times a year
in various cities across the Americas to discuss such dry but important
issues as telecommunications standards and spectrum regulations. But for
this week's meeting in Guatemala City, politics has barged onto the
agenda. At least four of the two dozen or so U.S. delegates selected for
the meeting, sources tell TIME, have been bumped by the White House
because they supported John Kerry's 2004 campaign.

The State Department has traditionally put together a list of industry
representatives for these meetings, and anyone in the U.S. telecom
industry who had the requisite expertise and wanted to go was generally
given a slot, say past participants. Only after the start of Bush's
second term did a political litmus test emerge, industry sources say.

The White House admits as much: "We wanted people who would represent
the Administration positively, and--call us nutty--it seemed like those
who wanted to kick this Administration out of town last November would
have some difficulty doing that," says White House spokesman Trent
Duffy. Those barred from the trip include employees of Qualcomm and
Nokia, two of the largest telecom firms operating in the U.S., as well
as Ibiquity, a digital-radio-technology company in Columbia, Md. One
nixed participant, who has been to many of these telecom meetings and
who wants to remain anonymous, gave just $250 to the Democratic Party.
Says Nokia vice president Bill Plummer: "We do not view sending experts
to international meetings on telecom issues to be a partisan matter. We
would welcome clarification from the White House."

>From the May. 02, 2005 issue of TIME magazine



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