The sordid little tale of Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu as linked from Glen(n)’s place gets every day more and more bizarre. It’s now clear that this particular Ponzi scheme con man never changed his game, only the way the game was played.
A Laguna Beach investment firm filed a lawsuit against Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu on Friday, claiming he defrauded investors out of at least $23 million and required them to donate to Democratic candidates.According to the lawsuit filed by Briar Wood Investments, Hsu persuaded the company’s operator to do business with him by taking him to star-studded Democratic Party events. There, the 56-year-old Hong Kong native was praised by New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and others, the lawsuit said.
As a condition of doing business with the fundraiser, Hsu directed investors to make contributions to certain Democratic candidates, the lawsuit said. The investors turned over tens of thousands of dollars, including $30,000 worth of checks to Clinton’s campaign on a single day.
I don’t know whether Hsu had any real commitment to to Democratic party politics, but it’s very clear he had a deep and meaningful commitment to self-enrichment without having to do all of the work of actually earning it. He strong armed donors to provide cash to political candidates, through which he acquired the kind of political “juice” that enabled him to go after ever more wealthy donors. Using his enhanced status – not everyone gets to be called a “Hill Raiser” – he could then merge the political donors into his personal Ponzi schemes, thereby lining his own pockets.
Campaign donations serve not only as the fuel for candidate issue ads and pay for travel from Washington to obscure Iowa farming towns. The ability to accumulate cash serves a critical role as a proxy for pre-primary campaign viability. It’s the political equivalent of Hsu’s Ponzi scheme: If you can’t shake people down for money at the same rate as the other front runners, then you aren’t a “serious” candidate, and you’ll find it increasingly difficult to sign on donors and professional staff.
Simply put, in a deadly serious competition for limited resources, the candidates cannot afford to scrutinize their donation sources too closely.
Money is the problem. If we can reduce the impact of war chests on the political psyche we can make rising to leadership of the free world something other than a grubby little cash grab contest.
As mentioned above, there are three ostensible reasons for campaign cash, and one overriding referent one:
1) To fund campaign adverstising on legacy media.
2) To pay quality, professional campaign staff.
3) To pay for travel expenses while a candidate and his staff canvass the country.
4) As a proxy for electability.
The solution? Every candidate must be a blogger!
A real blogger I mean. As a primary method of reaching out and touching people.
Reason number one is the real money sump, but TV and paper media ads are so pre-Web2.0. In a TiVo world, no one watches commercials anymore (that hasn’t already made their minds up) and print media is everywhere in retreat. You’d still have to pay for staff and travel, but that could be done through (transparent) website donations. Money would still matter, but hit counts and cross-posts as a proxy for popularity could become as important to the national political discourse – and an arguably more reliable and thoughful indicator – as filthy lucre is today.
Furthermore, there are no real barriers to entry. Anyone who cannot set up a website with audio and video isn’t trying hard enough. Imagine what fun we could have, once we shattered the gatekeeper’s box!
The only real downside is that high speed internet access would represent a kind of Jim Crow of its own. But looking on the bright side, I know of a certain blogger that will looking for work come spring of 2008.
So. Whaddaya think?
Sure glad we gots campaign finance reform…
… of course, there IS that North County Congressional seat that recently has been tarred and feathered. Treacherous path, Lex.
Fred Thompson is already doing this to some extent through the Fred File. Not that he’s a professional blogger, but he and his campaign seems pretty tech-savvy.
I’m all for it. We’d get to hear the real candidate, hairspray, warts and all.
I for one can make use of the lovely and talented John Edwards’s skin and hair care secrets.
Or listen to how Hillary would privatize domestic intelligence gathering, using L.A. private investigative firms,.
All men would benefit by hearing tips for success in picking up younger chicks from Rudy, Newt and Fred.
John McCain is the candidate I’d love to support, as he knows the smell of JP-5 and AvGas on hot non-skid, but he has turned his back to some of the issues I consider to be major.
Would John F’n Kerry post a milblog? After all, he did serve in Vietnam. Would the banner be three Purple Hearts?
Sorry, but most of the current crop of candidates is a near pathetic ego-driven bunch of losers, smart on some issues and woefully blind on most.
David H. Petraeus for President — but currently, we need his services in the Sandbox.
-SJBill
I’m thinking we need to help our Ms. Clinton, after all, she lost her Hsu.
Now, who would want to walk around without a Hsu?
So…here’s the plan: Find a pair of Hsus to send to Hillary. “Hsus for Hillary” campaign.
Could be flip-flops, could be spike heels, or just “comfortable shoes” to help her during her campaign.
What do you think? I think it would show the outpouring of compassion we have for all people. Include a note it you like.
Address:
Hillary Clinton for President
PO Box 40430
Arlington, VA 22204
Get a hold of Imelda Marcos, I hear she has a lot of Hsu’s…
I don’t know, Lex. In this campaign at least, spring of 2008 would be awfully late for you to jump in…
Ya got my vote.
I like the new banner!
Oddly enough, AM radio would be the perfect mass media to reach those not internet-enabled. Advertising is cheap, a Clear Channel station can cover four states here in the Midwest where states tend to take most of a day to drive across, and in radio like the blogsphere the message is the medium.
Never happen — people who gravitate to politics tend to be *people* persons. They want to shake hands and kiss babies and otherwise be liked. As I’ve proven before (he says with a certain degree of confidence rather than conceit) one can be many things in the blogosphere. Right, correct, an authority, but you will not be liked on that personal, I’ll-vote-for-him level.
Text is good. It allows time for thought, time to edit that reply before hitting the send button. People who work with emotions will not do well here.
– Max
I’ll run as a secret faithless elector, and vote for you.
Would that work? Snerk.
Seriously, I was discussing the bunch who are running for Prez with my sweety the other day and we agreed that they all more or less suck.
I may actually write in Cthulhu next time.
Yeah, Max, a lot of those political types seem to suffer from NPD.
See here:http://isnt.autistics.org/dsn-npd.html
The main site’s pretty funny, too:
http://isnt.autistics.org
http://isnt.autistics.org/dsn-npd.html
Maybe that’ll work.
Television remains the primary medium for voters to “get to know” candidates. But the cost of ads is almost becoming too prohibitive for candidates, particularly in New Jersey which has two of the most expensive media markets (Philly and NYC), hence a multi-millionaire like Corzine gets elected.
One option candidates have is to create such a unique or controversial ad that newsprograms replay it or discuss it with the talking heads. Now, with the internet, they can put the ad directly on their sites, which leads to….
Option 2: as it is quickly reaching more people, the internet may supplant television as the primary and possibly only necessary medium. http://www.unity08.com is trying that as a way of building a new political base, having them create the convention platform online, and nominating candidates online. It may be too early for campaigns to go totally online, but we seem to be getting there. Look at viral videos on Youtube like the anti-Hillary “1984″ ad or “ObamaGirl” or similar real or spoofed ads that get people talking.
The biggest problems of having entire campaigns online : 1) security, 2) “Capricorn One” claims, and 3) how to reach people in areas that don’t have net access or cannot afford computers/net access.
“As I’ve proven before (he says with a certain degree of confidence rather than conceit) one can be many things in the blogosphere. Right, correct, an authority, but you will not be liked on that personal, I’ll-vote-for-him level.”
Really?
Not to challenge that confidence thing you got going for you, Max, but … I wonder if anyone who knows Lex only as Lex would vote for him? Hey, I couldn’t possibly have misread his implied intent at the end of this post, could I?
“I wonder if anyone who knows Lex only as Lex would vote for him?”
No more so than one knew of Duke, I would imagine. And they call the same patch of congressional territory home… and they both chewed up a lot of the same airspace during their respective careers…
Seems to me, though, that this guy would bring respectability back to the post. Assuming a Bloggers writings can be a campaign platform and demonstrate integrity, honor, and a willingness to serve. Just might be enough.
[...] to Clintons campaign on a single day. I dont know whether Hsu had any real commitment source: Blogger for president!, Neptunus Lex The unbearable lightness of Lex. [...]
SJBill – I think you just described every crop of candidates ever to put up a campaign slogan. Some are “better at it” than others, but in the end I believe it does take a tremendous amount of hubris to run for President of the U.S.A.
The importance of the Office of the President has great bearing on what happens to the Tribes of America meaning Alaska Native and Native American population. From the start of the very first president America has a very poor track record in resolving the social and economic needs of America’s Indigenous. So Native Voting does count for across America there are now 64 Native American State Legislatures. Native Voting does count like in Arizona the Tribes amid a supposely Republican Stronghold State put into office a Democratic Governor. So voting does count by the Tribes.