Friday, April 04, 2014

The Council Has Spoken!! This Weeks' Watcher's Council Results

 


"Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." - President Ronald Reagab

"Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage." - Ambrose Beirce, The Devil's Dictionary

“A whitewashed crow soon shows black again” - Chinese proverb

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.

Even taking into consideration the normal high level of quality in both the Council and Non-Council entries, this was a tough call with some exceptional pieces to choose from, and the close vote tally reflects it.

For instance, we had a tie this week in the Council category which I, as Watcher have to break.

On the one hand, we had a superb in depth look at the scandal of Leland Yee – Gun Runner, Terrorist Enabler, Progressive Communist by The Noisy Room, an example of how a poster boy for San Francisco's progressive set presented one face in public and a totally different one in private.
Call it a political kind of Dorian Gray tale.

On the other hand, there was Joshuapundit's effort, Sharia Rears Its Head In Pennsylvania , a cautionary look at how Islamic sharia law is affecting American jurisprudence.


 

The choice for me was an easy one.. here's a slice of The Noisy Room's excellent Leland Yee – Gun Runner, Terrorist Enabler, Progressive Communist

For years now, Trevor Loudon has warned about Progressives, their corruption and their oft connection to the Communist underworld… especially in Asian circles of influence. A member of the California Asian Pacific Island Legislative Caucus, Yee has some splainin’ to do… Leland Yee is an excellent example of this ilk of Progressive politician. Yee just got caught stepping in criminal crap big time. This one is sheer poetry.

But he wasn’t the only one this week and he is the third in California alone. It would seem the FBI has developed a hankering for corrupt Democrats suddenly. From bribery in Pennsylvania, where charges were dropped because the judge deemed them ‘racist,’ to the Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina resigning over bribes taken for business favors, it just keeps getting better and better.

Enter Leland Yee, originally — wait for it — from Hawaii. Not only is Lee connected to the Communist underworld and political power brokers in California, he’s been a bad, bad boy and has been gun running in connection to radical Islamic terrorists. A staunch gun control advocate, one has to savor the irony that he was suppressing gun rights, so he could sell arms on the black market to his constituents. A hypocrite extraordinaire, Yee called for Progressive-style transparency and guns for those who could afford them.

You’ve got to give it to Lee, he sported a big set as he flipped the bird to authorities and was running for Secretary of State. That would have been hard to do with cuffs on and behind bars, just sayin’. He’s now withdrawn from the race with more pressing matters to attend to. A 137-page, FBI-sworn affidavit against California State Sen. Leland Yee, as well as over two dozen other individuals, has been filed. This is some good stuff… entertainment and enlightenment for the whole country.

Charges include not only gun running, but wire fraud, money laundering, corruption and bribery. And it gets better. The affidavit contains alleged murder-for-hire plots involving a political consultant close to Yee, as well as large international weapons trafficking operations. These operations included automatic weapons, shoulder-fired missiles, rocket launchers and heavy artillery. Anyone for adding treason to the charges? These weapons were allegedly being brought in from Russia and Islamic rebels in the Philippines.

California, we have a problem:
Out in California, State Senator Leland Yee, a longtime California politician who was praised for his efforts to make government more transparent and authored gun control legislation, was arrested Wednesday, accused of conspiracy to deal firearms and wire fraud. According to the NY Daily News, Yee discussed helping the undercover FBI agent get weapons worth $500,000 to $2.5 million, including shoulder-fired automatic weapons and missiles, and showed the agent the entire process of how to get those weapons from a Muslim separatist group in the Philippines into the United States, according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Emmanuel V. Pascua.

Yee performed “official acts” in exchange for donations from undercover FBI agents, as he sought to dig himself out of a $70,000 debt incurred during a failed San Francisco mayoral bid, according to court documents. Yee is also accused of accepting $10,000 in January 2013 from an undercover agent in exchange for his making a call to the California Department of Public Health in support of a contract under consideration with the agency.

Another individual named in the affidavit is Raymond Chow, aka “Shrimp Boy,” the former leader of a Chinese criminal organization with ties to Hong Kong. Chow is accused of money laundering, conspiracy to receive and transport stolen property and conspiracy to traffic contraband cigarettes.

Yee is the third Democrat senator from California to face charges this year along with Sen. Rod Wright, convicted of perjury and voter fraud, and Sen. Ron Calderon, indicted on federal corruption charges. Wright and Calderon are both taking a voluntary leave of absence, WITH pay of course– so typical.

Much more at the link

In our non-Council category, the winner was Matthew Continetti of the Washington Free Beacon with an absolutely magnificent take down of Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, entitled The Grandfather and submitted by Joshuapundit. This is definitely a must read piece.


Here are this week’s full results:

Council Winners

Non-Council Winners


See you next week! Don't forget to tune in on Monday AM for this week's Watcher's Forum, as the Council and their invited guests take apart one of the provocative issues of the day and weigh in...don't you dare miss it. And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!
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