Chris Dodd is truly one of, if not the biggest scumbag to
crawl out of the gutters of DC since Trent Lott. I would contend that the two
of them could be pitted into a classic MTV staple (when it was still semi music television) Celebrity Death match as each being the biggest
whores from their respective party’s in the last decade, which would be great theater. Two vile - spineless lawyers clawing each others eyes out for a stack of
dollars is must see TV.
From his controversy surrounding his dealings with
Countrywide getting sweetheart loans to his contributions and support for
Frannie and Freddie even as the two were facing collapse to his AIG bonus “reversal”;
Chris Dodd has always taken the sleazy route. I would assume it’s safe to say, the path of most lucrative assistance for sure, no doubt. So its of no surprise he would become
a lobbyist after he left office.
He is a lawyer, but I can’t find any record he even
practiced. He was in the Peace Corps and then the Army Reserve (thus excluding
him from being sent to Vietnam)
so what’s a 66 year old man with no job experience supposed to do? Kinda late
in the game to take an entry level position… and with the amount of slime
dripping off his torso; who would hire him anyway? Enter M.P.A.A.
Dodd (who spent 36 consecutive years in office) is on record
saying he wouldn’t go through Washington’s
"revolving door”. "No lobbying, no lobbying" was his answer to a question when facing "retirement". That however wouldn’t last long as he was tapped to
replace Dan Glickman; a former nine time Congressmen (imagine that) as
President of the Motion Picture Association of America last march for a
reported cool 1.5 million annually. Within six months came SOPA. You have to
tip your cap to the MPAA. You talk about fast-tracked? Six months and you got a
bill with overwhelming support brewing? Money well spent, do doubt.
But we know SOPA failed. The grassroots movement is what
makes the internet dangerous. It takes the power out of the elite and puts it
back in the hands of the masses. And the representatives listened. This is what
our Republic is about, is it not? Constituents prodding their elected leaders
for changes they want... not their elected leaders beholden to corporate interests.
The establishment was furious and Dodd led the charge;
saying that websites that participated in the blackouts were somehow guilty of:
"abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the
marketplace." Dodd, then assumed it was a timing issue. He had the nerve
to assume a “Slow timeline” would have produced different results. Code word
for: If we rammed this bill through faster, maybe on the eve of a holiday or as
a rider on another bill we would have been fine. Transparency is not something
Dodd has to worry about anymore, as if.
To top this off and the most despicable of all was Dodd’s
message to Congress and the Senate. In a moment of stupidity or some might say clarity,
Dodd summarizes the rotten core of politics today in one fell swoop of a paragraph.
“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to
understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand
up for them when their job is at stake," Dodd said. "Don’t ask me to
write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any
attention to me when my job is at stake.”
I loathe lobbying, but what I loathe even more so is former elected
leaders lobbying and talking out of both sides of their mouth. This issue is
the single most treacherous and destructive action against our Republic today
and in the days to come. Special interest and “K-Street” will bring this
country to its knees before they suck every last dollar out of the public’s jugular
without any constraint or admission of guilt. If this isnt an example of how in drastic need we are of strict term limits, what is?
