Your first report of the new week:
- Cromartie pleads guilty — (The State) …to one count of tax evasion and two counts of structuring payments to avoid federal reporting requirements. He’ll be sentenced sometime this summer.
- Oil Spill Now Covering More Than 1,800 Square Miles (The New York Times)– Meanwhile, ‘droids are sent to try to stop the bleeding.
- Courtesy of Arizona, immigration moves higher on Obama’s agenda (The Washington Post) — And threatens the White House’s working relationship with our own Lindsey Graham.
- In Lean Times, Police Cuts Spark Debate Over Safety (The Wall Street Journal) — A national problem with SC implications, given the way we’ve cut into public safety budgets on the state and local levels.
- Workers Fear End Of Boeing’s C-17 Cargo Plane (NPR) — This story about worker anxiety in Southern California has relevance to us because of both our own Boeing connection, and the C-17s that fly out of Charleton AFB.
- President Omar al-Bashir declared winner of Sudan Elections (BBC) — That would be the accused war criminal of Darfur, meaning that this election news is not terribly welcome among civilized folk.
“In one instance, Cromartie wrote seven checks, all dated the same day, and deposited them at a Wachovia Bank. He told investigators he was trying to save the bank paperwork.”
So kind of him. Ever so considerate.
Where was Coble today?
Brad, your love and adoration of Chief Justice Toal has been documented over and over through the years. However, it has been noted by many in the legal profession that the Feds had to include the provision that Cromatie had to give up his law license because they could not trust Toal to do it. If we are lucky, her days of running an absolutely corrupt judicial and attorney discipline system are coming to an end. No help from the MSM.
“Absolutely corrupt?” Indeed?
Thinking back through history, I doubt there was ever a system that was ABSOLUTELY corrupt. Surely a tad of honor crept into the worst system, here and there.
Your rhetoric is extreme, and I wonder at it. You think my commonsense respect for Justice Toal is somehow extraordinary, to the point that you have to use extreme words to describe it (“love and adoration”). But my respect is simply that of an intelligent person who’s had sufficient opportunity to converse with her to understand she’s one of the brightest and best-qualified people in public life in this state. There are a lot of dedicated people in public life in South Carolina, but there aren’t that many whose intellect makes a deep impression. The chief justice is one. Joe Riley is another. So is Lindsey Graham. And former head of the Budget and Control Board (now president of Francis Marion) Fred Carter.
Maybe you haven’t had the opportunity to talk with these people and be struck by their capabilities. But your characterization of the chief justice’s area of responsibility as “absolutely corrupt” suggests that you have had some experience that particularly and specifically embitters you toward her. I have no idea what that might be, but I suppose it’s sufficient to satisfy you that your absoluteness is called for. Must really be something.
Brad,
I agree that Todd may have been overly broad in his rhetoric. It may have obscured his valid points.
Meeting someone and being impressed with his or her intellect or charm, or that they do some good works, does not change the fact that that person has been a party to or overseen some significant injustices. From my perspective, I am aware of both cases of attorney discipline that were almost Star Chamber examples, and others where the powerful skated by or received mere reprimands, and given that the powerful are usually equipped with plenty of staff resources to ensure that the details don’t get overlooked in the crush of practicing law, well, it sure seems like there are two standards of legal ethics.
Some people’s careers and livelihoods have been ruined, while others, say, run for office.
And I think you and other readers of this blog know that I am not a fan of paranoid conspiracy theories. I generally do not believe “the man” is out to get me or others, and I believe that most public servants are honest and work hard.
The Man and I just had a good laugh when I told him you don’t think he’s out to get you.
Gotta run now. He and I are off to a three-martini lunch with the Trilateral Commission.
Then this afternoon, I have to do some consulting work for the Pentavirate…
Brad: Your naivete would be refreshing, if I didn’t believe you really know better. For whatever reason you are not about to tell what you really know and at one time had the hard evidence thereto. Yes, I know her well. I will not bother you further. Your credibility is lost on this issue.
Todd, let’s get one thing straight: I don’t say one thing and mean another. Ever. And you have no right to suggest that I do.
You wave around vague suggestions of severe character flaws, based upon evidence of which I am completely unaware (and just to help you interpret, what do I mean that “I am completely unaware”? I mean that I am completely unaware). So how exactly do you expect me to react?
One of the most frustrating things about being a journalist is that sometimes your worst critics base their criticism upon an assumption that you are omniscient, which to me has always seemed sort of contradictory, but there it is. That’s even more maddening than the people who assume I’m an idiot.
What on Earth could that refer to: “what you really know and at one time had the hard evidence thereto.” That leaves me utterly in the dark.
A suggestion: Todd-email Brad privately what it is you think he knows, so he can respond to it more clearly.
Certainly. It’s brad@bradwarthen.com.
How did we get on the subject of Jean Toal anyway?
B/c of the widely prevalent rumor that the feds made EW agree to give up his law license as part of the plea agreement, because the feds did not trust Jean Toal to ensure that the license was lifted.
Who said Federal powers are overrated? Sometimes its nice to have them around. While the bar to loose one’s law license in this state does seem to be quite high, many still manage to succeed every year!
I don’t see how anyone could blame the State Supreme Court for not being able, if that’s even the situation, to stop Mr. Cromartie. It’s corruption and therefor more like “we have met the enemy and it is us”.